Second surge saw more infections, fatalities in Chandigarh

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 18

The surge in UT Covid-19 cases witnessed in July and August also increased the number of deaths as compared to the previous surge in May and mid-June when the infection was concentrated in only one area of the city i.e. Bapu Dham Colony.

Only six deaths were reported from the city till June. The figure rose to 30 in the past two months in the second surge.

Dr Rajesh Kumar, former head of the Department of Community Medicine, PGI, said: “When the cases are less in number, the efficiency of any administration is well equipped to contain the spread as compared to the situation where the infection is spiralling. Increase in the number of deaths is because several cases are not traced well in time or fail to report at health care facilities.”

Of 1,000 active cases in the city, at present there are over 100 critically ill Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment at the PGI and the GMCH-32.

As on June 30, only 13 critically ill patients were admitted to the PGI (the only Covid hospital for critical cases at that time) out of 70 active cases.

During the war-room meeting, the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator had time and again stressed that the focus of the Administration should be on early detection of cases, particularly those of comorbid patients, so that fatalities could be kept at a minimum.

In its report titled “review of containment strategy at Bapu Dham Colony”, the WHO stated that: “We need to protect, detect early and provide supportive care to the aged and those with comorbid conditions.”

From 29, biggest one-day virus count rose to 114

The first highest single-day spike of 29 Covid cases was recorded on May 24. All patients were from Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26.

There was a gradual decrease in the number of cases from the area and a plateau was achieved as only two to three cases started reporting daily from May 30 onwards.

On one side, sporadic cases were being reported from Bapu Dham Colony till mid-June, the city started witnessing another surge where Covid-19 infection spread was scattered all over the city.

In July, the highest single-day spike of 44 cases was recorded. The figure rose to 114 on August 18 as cases were being reported from over 43 places, including 13 peripheral areas.

The reason behind rise in single-day spike is due to increased testing as rapid antigen tests have also been included. On an average, over 500 tests are being conducted in the UT now.

Change in containment policy

In the previous spread, there were six containment zones in areas, including Kacchi Colony in Dhanas, part of Sector 52, Shastri Nagar in Mani Majra, parts of Sectors 38 and 30-B and Bapu Dham Colony. Restrictions in the containment zones were lifted only after 28 days when the last positive case of the zone gets cured.

The Administration had converted entire Bapu Dham Colony into a containment zone and the area was further divided into 20 pockets each containing 1,500 to 2,000 population.

The policy changed in August with the creation of micro-containment zones after mapping of new cases coming up from different sectors and areas. At present, some areas of Dhanas, Mani Majra and Sector 40 have been declared as containment zones for 14 days.