17 infected among every 1L people in Chandigarh

Ranks third in country among states/UTs, coming after only Delhi and worst-hit Maharashtra, when it comes to confirmed cases per lakh population

CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh, a state/ union territory with second highest population density in India, also ranks third — only after the national capital Delhi and worstaffected state of Maharashtra — when it comes to the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases per one lakh population.

As on May 12, for every one lakh people in Chandigarh, 17 are infected, which is close to Maharashtra’s 20, while the count of Delhi is the highest at 43. These figures are based on the 2011 population statistics and data of confirmed cases released by the ministry of health and family welfare.

Among the neighbouring states, Punjab has the highest six cases per lakh population, followed by Haryana and Himachal Pradesh at 2.8 and 0.8 cases respectively.

“This suggests the situation in Chandigarh is grave and requires much greater attention as well as testing. The increasing number

of cases also trigger the trend of increasing mortalities, which is the actual cause of concern,” a senior epidemiologist at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research said, wishing not to be named.

With three deaths due to Covid-19 so far, case fatality rate in Chandigarh stands at 1.6%, more than that of Delhi (1) and almost equal to that of Punjab (1.65) and Haryana (1.5). Maharashtra has the highest, at 3.7%.

According to Dr Tarundeep

Singh, a community health expert at the PGIMER, denser the population, higher the chances of infection spread.

“Mumbai has the highest number of cases, and the possible reason could be its high population density (20,634). Similar is the case with Chandigarh and Delhi,” said Dr Singh.

According to the 2011 census, Chandigarh is the most densely populated entity (9,252 people per square kilometre) among states and union territories, only next to

Delhi (11,297).

UT health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta said dense localities in the city are already under the health department’s watch, but unnecessary restrictions cannot be put in place without any evidence of spread of infection.

“In Bapu Dham Colony, which is a congested locality, the infection has spread at a fast pace and around 35% samples have tested positive. In other dense localities, such as Maloya and Dhanas, we have tested the contacts and saw that the infection has not spread,” he said.

Mumbai has the highest number of cases, possibly due to high population density. Similar is the case with Delhi and Chandigarh.

DR TARUNDEEP SINGH, community health expert, PGIMER, Chandigarh