Chandigarh weekly positivity rate dips to 13%, was 23.2% fortnight ago

Naina Mishra

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 23

The Covid case positivity rate of the UT has come down significantly from a record high of 23.2 per cent during the week ending May 9, to approximately 13 per cent this week. A positivity rate of below 5 per cent is considered safe as far as the spread of the virus is concerned.

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From a single-day positivity rate of 27.8 per cent reported on May 11, the test positivity rate dropped to 9.8 per cent today.

In the past one week, the number of new infections has grown by an average of 0.9% every day. The active cases have also reached 9.1 per cent in the city with a constant decline in the new cases.

Amandeep Kang, Director, Health Services, UT, said even if the cases were decreasing, there was a need for people to strictly observe Covid-appropriate behaviour to keep the virus at bay. It was the natural cycle of the pandemic and with the ongoing restrictions, the cases were expected to decrease this week as well, she added.

With new infections on the decline, oxygen and ventilator bed availability in the city is also improving. On Sunday, 11 ventilator beds were vacant at the PGI, eight were vacant at the GMCH-32 and two at the GMCH-48 (South Campus). The number of patients requiring oxygen beds at the PGI also reduced as 150 such beds were vacant on Sunday. A total of 306 oxygen beds were vacant in the city hospitals. On May 6, no ICU bed was vacant in the government-run hospitals in the city while 116 oxygen beds were vacant at the healthcare facilities.

Despite the decline in new cases, the fatalities in the city are still on the higher side as an average 10 deaths due to Covid-19 are taking place daily.

Mucormycosis another challenge: PGI Director

Prof Jagat Ram, Director, PGI, said, “We have already crossed the peak and Covid cases are coming down now. Moderate to serious patients take double the time to recover than the mild patients. Even as the hospital admission has fallen, doctors now face a new challenge of mucormycosis. The number of mucormycosis patients is significant. Another challenge is that it takes much more effort to eliminate fungus from the nose and eye. Many patients with fungal infection are admitted to the Covid ICUs now.”