Despite rise in cases, fatality stays low in Chandigarh

Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 23

Even as the cases of Covid-19 are spiralling in the city, the number of deaths has been quite low this month. The city has recorded 2,689 cases in March so far and only 11 of these were fatal.

According to experts, the new UK variant — B.1.1.7 — found in Punjab could be the reason behind a faster spread in the city. However, its correlation to the severity of the disease has not been epidemiologically established.

The city had reported 18 Covid deaths last month, whereas 17 fatalities were recorded in January. During the last surge, the month of September had seen over 100 deaths. At the beginning of the first peak in August, the number of deaths was 41.

Dr Mini P Singh, a virologist at PGI, said, “At this point, it is difficult to say how the mutant strain will behave in the country. It is not the virus every time but also the immunity of the host body. It will depend on how it will impact the Indian genes. It is definite that the spread is very fast and a younger lot is quite affected.”

PGI Director Dr Jagat Ram said it was very likely that the new variant might be found in Chandigarh as well due to the interstate mingling of people from Punjab. The results of January and February Covid-19 samples sent for genome sequencing are awaited for Chandigarh.

Dr KK Talwar, Health Adviser to Punjab Government, said, “The available data suggests that the mutant strain is not more virulent as the nature of the disease is the same as the original virus. We need to carry analysis to determine what impact the new mutant will have on the severity of the disease. There has been less number of deaths in Punjab as well.”

Dr Suneela Garg, professor of excellence at Maulana Azad Medical College and member of Lancet Commission Covid India Taskforce, said the mutant strains of the virus in many other countries had been more infectious and less severe due to which there were less number of deaths. “If we are not going to increase vaccination, the virus will become resistant to our existing vaccines as well. One thing is clear that herd immunity can only be achieved with vaccination,” said Dr Garg.

However, the UT health authorities believe that the actual death rate of this surge will be reflected in the next month when the hospital stay of many serious patients will be over.

According to the official data, around 10 per cent of the active patients in the city are currently admitted to the hospital. The case fatality in the city stands at 1.5 per cent.