Anticipating a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases after confirmation of UK corona variant in Chandigarh, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Director Dr Jagat Ram on Friday urged the authorities concerned of neighbouring States- Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir to increase beds and manpower in their hospitals.
“There is a rapid surge of Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic. The peak of this virus is expected in mid May or early June”, he told The Pioneer.
The director said that above 70 per cent of total covid beds in the Covid Block of PGIMER are full and about 69 per cent of these are occupied by patients from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. PGIMER has 300 Covid beds and 222 Covid patients have been admitted in Nehru Extension Block, out of which 82 belong to Punjab, 67 to Chandigarh, 41 to Haryana, 22 to Himachal Pradesh and 10 from other States.
After confirmation of the UK corona variant in Chandigarh, Punjab and other neighbouring States, it has been anticipated a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the region.
Dr Jagat Ram said that the Covid- 19 cases surging at a rate much faster in the second wave than the first wave in the region. At PGIMER 3,492 covid samples tested, out of which 552 were found positive. The positivity rate was 15.8 per cent. Only, patients having moderate and severe symptoms of Covid-19 are admitted at Covid hospital in PGIMER, he added.
Patients having comorbidities like diabetes, chronic kidney diseases, heart diseases, cancer, lung diseases are admitted at Covid hospital in PGIMER. This strain apparently affected younger patients and spread much faster than the earlier strain. Around 50 per cent of total enrolled patients in PGIMER are younger patients, he said.
The Director said that 70 percent of the total 60 samples sent to the National Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC), New Delhi in March, 2021 had UK Variant of Covid- 19. The director urged everyone should follow Covid Appropriate Behavior by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and frequent use of sanitizer/hand washing.