December end marks beginning of third Covid wave in Chandigarh!

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 31

The last week of this month marked the beginning of the third wave of Covid in the city.

The UT reported a record 49 cases after a gap of six months today, putting the Administration again on a high alert. The surge in the City Beautiful is much higher than Mohali and Panchkula. While 23 cases were recorded in Panchkula, 27 persons tested positive in Mohali.

‘No need to panic’

 Most cases are asymptomatic and are in home isolation. There is no need to panic, but Covid protocol must be followed. - Yashpal Garg, UT Health Secretary

Poll rallies behind surge, say experts

Experts have attributed sudden rise in cases in Chandigarh to the Municipal Corporation elections that saw rallies violating social distancing norms.

Experts have attributed sudden rise in cases in Chandigarh to the Municipal Corporation elections that saw rallies violating social distancing norms.

On whether the increase can also be linked with the Omicron variant, Suman Singh, Director of Health Services, UT, said, “It is difficult to say if the new variant is causing the surge as only three cases have been detected in the city. Not all positive samples are being sent for genome sequencing to check the variant. However, elections did play some role in spiked cases.”

The month of December witnessed 333 cases, which is 192 per cent more than the previous month tally of 114 cases.

UT Health Secretary Yashpal Garg said, “Most cases are asymptomatic and are in home isolation. There is no need to panic, but Covid protocol must be followed.”

He added, “People should get fully vaccinated at the earliest. Vaccination may not stop infection but definitely provide antibodies to fight it out and reduce the fatality.”

“A total of 12,243 doses were administered in the city today, which is the highest single-day vaccination count in the past four months. All Covid vaccination centres will remain open on Saturday and Sunday,” said Garg.

Chandigarh will begin inoculating children in the age group of 15 to 18 years from January 3.