The latest surge in COVID-19 cases in the Union Territory has seen a shift in the spreading pattern of the virus with more infections in people in the age group of 21 to 30.
Unlike in the first wave and to an extent in the second, more youngsters and middle-aged people are getting infected in the Union Territory, medical experts said. Age-wise distribution of positive cases showed that the most affected were in the 21 to 30. Data with the Health Department revealed that of the 280 cases reported on January 8, 30.17% were in the 21 to 30 age group, followed by 16.2% in the 31 to 40 group, 15.64% in the 41 to 50 group and 15.64% in the 11 to 20 group.
Results of tests conducted on January 9 showed that of the total 444 fresh cases reported, 21.92% belonged to the age group of 21 to 30. A similar percentage of people, who tested positive on January 9, belonged to the 51 to 60 age group while those aged between 31 and 40 constituted 17.81% of the cases.
The percent of people infected in the 21 to 30 age group went up on January 10. Of the 489 new cases, 28.35% belonged to this age group, followed by 24.56% in the 31 to 40 group.
In all three days, no positive case was reported among people above 81 years. The percentage of people above 71 years who were infected was in the range of 1% to 2%, data revealed. Infections in children below 10 years was found to be negligible, with cases contributing to around 2% to 3% of the total cases on all three days.
“This pattern is almost similar since the cases started going up a week ago. In the beginning of the pandemic, we saw that symptomatic aged and elderly people coming to health care centres. Now, more youngsters are getting infected, though with mild symptoms,” a senior Health Official said.