Active cases breach 100 mark in UT
Eight cases reported from hotspot Bapu Dham Colony; total confirmed cases 124
CHANDIGARH: The number of active Covid-19 cases in Chandigarh went beyond the 100 mark for the first time in Chandigarh, with nine people testing positive for the infection on Wednesday.
It took the total tally of confirmed cases to 124, of whom 21 have recovered while one has died, bringing the active cases to 102.
Among the fresh cases, eight are from the hotspot Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, including four women of one family, and one from Sector 56.
The four women are aged 18, 24, 35 and 41. Also, two men and two women from two other families have got infected. With this, the number of cases in the congested colony has rose to 66, which accounts for 53% of the total cases and 64% of the active cases in Chandigarh.
INFECTED MAN ESCAPES TO UP ON MOTORCYCLE
Meanwhile, a 34-year-old man from Sector 56, who was tested positive at the Mohali civil hospital on Tuesday evening, escaped from the city on his bike and travelled 800km to reach his village in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
A senior UT health official said that the patient was sent home and told to self isolate till the tests results were out. However, the man travelled to his native village, Purenewali, in Partapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh (UP), instead.
An official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “It is surprising that the patient was permitted to go home and quarantine himself. The doctors at the Mohali civil hospital should not have allowed the patient to go home in the first place. They also failed to inform the health and quarantine authorities in Chandigarh.”
Mohali civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said, “It is our protocol that whenever we collect a sample, we ask the patient to quarantine themselves at home. In case the report comes positive, the patients are shifted to Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur.”
NOW, ONLY SERIOUS CASES IN PGIMER
The increasing number of cases has prompted the authorities to admit patients with only serious complications to the dedicated Covid-19 hospital at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), while new asymptomatic and mild cases will be admitted to the Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College and Hospital in Sector 46.
UT health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta said the decision has been taken keeping in view requests made by the PGIMER that maximum number of persons admitted in the hospital do not require specialised medical treatment and just need to be isolated.
“Guidelines from the central government state that mild and asymptomatic cases should be taken care of in Covid-19 care centres and thus this is the first step in that direction,” said Gupta, adding that the infrastructure at the Sector 46 hospital is adequate for 60 patients.
“They also have their own force of healthcare workers, which will be supplemented by the resident doctor from Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32,” he said.
PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram said after this decision, the institute can utilise its energy on the management of serious patients and it has already utilised 50% of the capacity.