Of all the people who died due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the district in the last five months, nearly 50% of them were senior citizens.
As per data available, of total 142 fatalities, 70 were people above the age of 60 years with multiple comorbidities. Mohali civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said 85% of the deaths took place due to acute diabetes and hypertension, and the patients developed respiratory problems after contracting Covid-19. The other ailments include lever infections, kidney failures, cancer, cardiac arrest, bypass surgery and asthmatic and respiratory problems.
Dr Singh further said that as far as diabetes and hypertension were concerned, it was not only the senior citizens, but also people from other age groups. “Apart from this, a 96-year-old male is the oldest person to have succumbed to coronavirus in Mohali and an 8-month-old baby girl was the youngest.”
Nodal officer-cum-district epidemiologist Dr Harman Brar said, “The 96-year-old had diabetes and could not withstand the virus. The case study for the 8-month-old baby is yet to be made, but we believe that infants do not have proper lung functioning and once infected with the virus, it worsens leading to death.”