Can’t call uptick in cases a surge of concern: Experts
Naina Mishra
Chandigarh, April 30
Chandigarh recorded 140 cases of Covid-19 this month, while there were 180 cases in March. Even though a small uptick in the daily cases has been witnessed since the last week, the surge is slower than the third wave.
Increase in Covid cases minimal: DHS
So far, only asymptomatic and mild cases are being reported from the city, as was observed in the Omicron-fuelled third wave. We are still not calling it a surge in Chandigarh as the increase in cases is very minimal. Dr Suman Singh, Director, Health Services
There are 71 active cases in the city, of which only two patients have been hospitalised and the remaining are under home isolation. Over 99% of Covid-19 beds in the local hospitals are still vacant.
Dr Suman Singh, Director, Health Services, said, “So far, only asymptomatic and mild cases are being reported in the city, as was observed in the Omicron-fuelled third wave. We are still not calling it a surge in Chandigarh as the increase in cases is very minimal.”
Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) national task force on coronavirus, said, “The rise in Covid-19 cases so far in the country have not yet resulted in overwhelming caseload in hospitals or ICU’s. This suggests that it is not causing a large flare, which is because India has close to 100% adult vaccination rate and a large amount of acquired immunity from natural infection during recent surges caused by closely related sublineages of Omicron.”
“For almost six months since it was flagged as a variant of concern, Omicron has perhaps mostly run its course. New variants are a bigger threat than Omicron sublineages,” added Dr Jayadevan.
He said, “However, we need to be vigilant about BA.4 and BA.5 that have recently been flagged by researchers in South Africa as capable of causing a new wave. These two are not descendants of BA.1 or BA.2, and a research shows that they theoretically can reinfect a large segments of the population who had a recent BA.1 infection. In any case, the virus will continue to adapt and the longer away we are from the last wave, the easier it is for the virus to cause a large wave.”
In the third wave, the cases had doubled quickly in a week with the city reporting more than 300 cases by the first week of January. Over 130 patients were hospitalised on January 7, a week after the surge started.
Nine test positive in UT
Chandigarh: The city witnessed nine fresh cases of Covid on Saturday, taking the active count to 71. So far, the virus has claimed 1,165 lives in the city. TNS
Mohali reports 10 Covid cases
Mohali: The district reported four cases of Covid during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 95,792. Three persons recovered from the disease. A total of 94,590 patients have recovered from the infection in the district. There were 54 active cases and the death toll remained 1,148. TNS
Panchkula logs 10 fresh infections
Panchkula: The district reported 10 fresh cases of Covid on Saturday, registering the two-digit daily rise after March 6 when the district had logged equal number of infections. The active caseload rose to 23 while the death count remained unchanged at 414. Meanwhile, the number of recovered persons stands at 43,744. TNS
