Covid-19: Second wave continues to batter Chandigarh region

CHANDIGARH: Even as the daily cases in the worst-hit states of the country have started plateauing, the second wave continues to rage in the region — Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Chandigarh — with no sign of abating.
The three states and the UT have been reporting a very steep number of cases, with Haryana being the worst in the lot, adding one lakh cases in just eight days from April 23 to May 2, followed by Punjab where 65,551 new cases surfaced in the 10-day period.
In Haryana and the hill state of Himachal, the infection grew by an average of 2.8 per cent every day in the last one week.
Out of every 100 confirmed cases, 21 are active in Himachal and 20 in Haryana.
With 108,830 patients under treatment as on May 5, Haryana features in the list of states having more than one lakh active cases.
The cases grew in Punjab and Chandigarh at a daily average of 1.9 per cent.
Punjab has the lowest active case ratio of 15.5 per cent in the region.
Between April 26 and May 2, Haryana recorded the second highest (37 per cent) positivity rate in the country, followed by Chandigarh at tenth spot with a positivity rate of 26 per cent, manifold above the 5 per cent level recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Even Maharashtra, the state reporting the maximum number of cases, has a lower positivity rate (24 per cent) than Haryana and Chandigarh.
The positivity rate in Himachal and Punjab during the period has been recorded at 20 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.
Gurugram and Faridabad in Haryana are among the districts in the country showing a continued increase in cases since the last two weeks.
Joint secretary, ministry of health, Lav Agarwal said that the central government is in constant touch with the states showing an increase in daily cases and helping them in controlling the spread of the virus.
VARIANTS ARE A CONCERN
A large number of samples have tested positive for Covid variants and mutations in the region.
In Punjab, 516 samples of the UK variant (B.1.17), two of South Africa variants (B1.351) have been found, and as many as 51 samples in Chandigarh, 20 in Haryana, and 14 in Himachal have been tested positive for the UK variant in Haryana.
The UK variant increases the transmission by 50% and severity while the South Africa variant increases the transmission and reduces antibody neutralisation.