Chandigarh records 1,275 new Covid cases, 2 fatalities

Chandigarh, January 18

Chandigarh reported 1,275 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a health bulletin issued by the union territory’s administration said on Monday.

Chandigarh has 9,104 active cases. Its positivity rate stands at 21.96 per cent, marginally higher than the previous day’s 21.42 per cent but perceptibly lower than 26.71 per cent recorded on Saturday.

The UT recorded two new fatalities on Tuesday—a 76-year-old  man from Sector 38 West, and a 72-year-old man from Dhanas who suffered from hypertension and kidney problems. They were both unvaccinated.

Its death count since the pandemic in 2020 began stands at 1,091. Chandigarh also recorded 541 new recoveries in the last 24 hours.

The Union Territory has been reporting a slight dip in Covid-19 cases since Saturday, although health experts say it’s too early to call this a trend. Testing appears to be lower: the bulletin showed testing was down 20 per cent from last Friday when the UT recorded 1834 new Covid-19 cases—its highest single-day tally yet—fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron.

The development also comes at a time when the central government flagged lower testing across states and union territories and asked governments to scale it up.