E-Paper
September saw 44% of all Covid-19 deaths in Ludhiana
September’s 330 deaths are slightly more than the 323 casualties recorded in August.
Since the first Covid-19 death on March 29, 741 Ludhiana residents have succumbed to the virus, with September accounting for 44.5% of all fatalities so far.
The figure was slightly more than the 323 casualties recorded in August. However, both months have more deaths each, compared to the last five months combined.
March had recorded one death, followed by three in April and five in May. As the borders reopened and curfew restrictions were eased in June, allowing public to venture out and businesses to reopen, the Covid positive cases shot up and fatalities rose to 12 in a month. The situation worsened in July with 67 deaths, but the fatalities shot up by a whopping four times in August (323) and September (330).
Besides the 330 deaths, the cases also surged massively from 3,246 on July 31 to 10,222 on August 31 and 18,087 as on October 1 – a jump of over five times.
SOME RESPITE
The number of deaths peaked on September 15, when 19 fatalities were recorded in a single day – the highest 24-hour spike so far.
However, these reduced to 15 the next day, followed by 12 each over the next three days.
After five deaths on September 20, the number of fatalities in the last 10 days of the month remained in single digits, with the exception of September 23 and 29, when 11 and 12 casualties, respectively, were recorded.
A total of 1.31 lakh samples were tested across the district in September, against the 1.39 lakh samples collected in August.
ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
There were 37 patients on ventilator support at various hospitals at the beginning of September, but the number came down to 27 by the 30th.
Besides, there were 1,746 active cases in Ludhiana on September 1, which came down to 1,051 by the end of the month, and further to 886 on October 2.
Similarly, a total of 8,261 patients recovered in September, which is equal to the total number of recoveries recorded from March to July at 8,079. As of October 2, the cured patients are numbered at 16,559, and 50% of these were discharged in September alone.
Ludhiana deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said while the number of daily deaths was coming down, there was no room for complacency. “It is an optimistic trend, but we have to still keep our guards up and take all precautions,” he added.
