78-year-old man from Sector 19 is Chandigarh’s 11th Covid fatality

CHANDIGARH: Another senior citizen lost battle with Covid-19, taking the toll in Chandigarh to 11 on Wednesday.

As many six people who was died of the virus in the city were aged 60 or above. Five of the fatalities have occurred in the past one week.

Meanwhile, 19 more cases were reported even as 23 patients were discharged, taking the total tally to 619, of which 149 remain active. The number of those cured has touched 459.

The latest victim has been identified as a 78-year-old resident of Sector 19, who tested positive at the Panchkula civil hospital on July 14 and breathed his last there.

“He was a patient of chronic heart disease with coronary stenting. He was admitted at Panchkula for the last three days and was administered oxygen too,” stated an official release of the UT administration.

With the surge in infections and the rate of testing remaining almost constant, positivity rate has increased to 6.1% while recovery rate has decreased to 74% after remaining at 88% in the June.

Among fresh cases, two each have been reported from Sectors 29, 46 and 48 besides Bapu Dham Colony and Burail. They include eight males and two females.

One case each has surfaced in Sectors 25, 26, 38 and 63 besides Khuda Alisher, Raipur Khurd and Dhanas. These include six males and two females.

Those found infected are in the age group of 24 to 60. As many as 23 family contacts of these patients have been quarantined and will be tested.

Dr G Dewan, director, health services, said second round of door-to-door screening is continuing with focus on Manimajra, where 8,516 houses with 32,106 people have been screened. Samples of 10 suspect cases have been sent for testing, he said.