Third wave ebbs in Chandigarh, cases down 22% from second

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, February 17

The third wave lasted over a month with the city reporting 25,559 cases of Covid-19, 22 per cent lower that the second wave. The second wave had seen as many as 32,720 cases.

The first wave corresponded to the August-September period in 2020, whereas the second wave ran from April to May last year. As many as 374 Covid deaths took place in the city during the second wave. The city had reported 147 deaths in the first wave.

The third wave witnessed 75 deaths, which was low in comparison to the previous two waves. A majority of the deaths took place in the 60 plus age group and most of the patients had comorbidities.

‘Cases have come down’

The cases have come down and we are now focusing on other areas as well. We still need to follow the Covid protocol. The third wave saw a steep rise but cases came down quickly. —Dr Suman Singh, Director, Health Services, UT

During the second wave, the hospital bed occupancy was between 80 per cent and 100 per cent, whereas the third wave saw only 24 per cent hospital bed occupancy.

A majority of the Covid patients admitted to hospitals were those with underlying medical conditions and required oxygen supplementation or ventilator support due to their pre-existing illness.

In the previous surge, the healthcare system in Chandigarh was on the edge with hospitals unable to handle the relentless inflow of patients and ran out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds. The third wave saw the spread of the new Omicron variant.

Dr Suman Singh, Director, Health Services, Chandigarh, said, “The cases have come down and we are now focusing on other areas as well. We still need to focus on maintaining the Covid protocol. The third wave saw a steep rise but cases came down quickly.”

Positivity rate dips

The weekly positivity rate of the city stood at 2.44 per cent, a fall from the 23 per cent weekly rate recorded in the week ending January 17. Dr Suman Singh, Director, Health Services, Chandigarh, said, “The third wave saw a large number of cases; the positivity rate is now coming down drastically.”