55% deceased in Chandigarh above 60

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 4

Around 55 per cent of the patients who died of Covid-19 in the city are above the age of 60 and the single-most common comorbid condition found among these patients is either diabetes or hypertension or both.

Some of these patients also have accompanying comorbid conditions such as chronic kidney injury, along with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension, making their survival difficult.

Of the total fatalities, 67 per cent (42) were witnessed in the month of August alone.

Recovery rate among children below 13 good

Around eight per cent Covid patients in the city are below the age of 13.

The recovery rate among children below 13 has been fairly good. Of the 395 young Covid patients in the city, only three succumbed to the virus. The trio, a three-day-old child, who died of pneumonia, an 18-month-old child, who was a case of severe acute malnutrition, severe anaemia and kidney injury, and a nine-year-old child, who had liver disease, was unfit and prone to infection.

Dr Naresh Mittal from Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Sector 46, here, said: “We have treated several young patients. We have seen that they recover within seven days. A majority of them are mild or asymptomatic and hardly needed any extra care.”

While older adults (56 years and older) died of pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic and other Covid-related complications, sudden and unexpected death was also witnessed in some persons in their 20s. Recently, two youths, both aged 20, died mysteriously and tested positive for Covid-19 posthumously. One of among them died of sudden cardiac arrest, while another one was brought dead at a hospital.

There are 1,074 Covid patients in the age group of above 50. A total of 45 persons have succumbed to the virus in this age group. This implies that the death rate in this age group is four per cent, while 96 per cent patients have either recovered or are still in isolation.