Surat: The latest Covid-19 wave that swept the diamond city has not spared the young. According to Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) officials, the data of infected people from February 1 to March 25 reveals that the largest number of infected people are in the age group of 31 to 40 years followed by 41 to 50 years of age.
The highest infected age group since the pandemic began last year is 41 to 50 years of age followed by 31 to 40 years of age group. But in the latest trend, the 31 to 40 age group is leading the infection chart. When it comes to Covid-19 deaths, the 31 to 40 years age group accounts for 4.33% of the total death toll since the beginning of Covid-19 in the city.
Civic body officials say that, unlike previous Covid-19 wave, wherein Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) were the symptoms of Covid-19, symptoms have changed significantly and cases show that most of the young people in the working-age group are found positive and were completely asymptomatic.
"This is a worrisome trend for the management of Covid-19 as younger people come into contact with a large number of people in their professional circles or businesses. This time around, there was no lockdown and, unfortunately, people are no longer afraid of a Covid-19 infection,'' said an official.
"In the last three days, two Covid-19 patients below the age of 40 succumbed to the virus and this reflects on the seriousness of the new Covid-19 strain.
The viral load is very high and it is very infectious. A few days ago, we conducted Covid-19 tests of around 300 students of which as many as 120 students tested positive,'' an SMC official added.
"In some cases, we have observed that lung involvement gets serious if proper care or early hospitalisation is not done. In one case, a patient died within 24 hours of hospitalisation,'' an official added.