Panchkula’s Covid count goes past 2,000

Two elderly men died of Covid-19 in Panchkula district on Saturday, taking the toll to 19. Also, 96 new infections were reported, which took the number of infections past 2,000.

As many as 2,075 people have tested positive in the district so far, of whom 790 are yet to be cured.

Those who died have been identified as an 82-year-old man from Sector 4 and a 71-year-old man from Sector 12A.

Among the fresh cases, 26 are from Kalka, 20 from Pinjore and the remaining from Panchkula city and other peripheral areas.

While 1,266 patients have recovered so far, reports of 469 suspected cases are awaited.

72% cases surfaced in August

The pandemic spread has picked up pace at an alarming rate in August.

The total count stood at 561 on July 31. As many as 1,514 cases (72%) have been reported this month alone.

The latest 500 cases have been added in just a week, as compared to 132 days taken to reach the first 500 after the infection surfaced in the district on March 20.

Looking at the spike, the health authorities have decided to convert D-block of the civil hospital into a covid care centre. “We have 113 beds in the civil hospital for Covid patients, and now we are readying D-block, which will have additional 48-bed capacity. We have also alerted private hospitals to make more arrangements,” said Dr Jasjeet Kaur, civil surgeon, Panchkula.