Two health workers, constable among 8 to test positive in UT

While Police Lines in Sector 26 is located near Bapu Dham Colony, a containment area and hotspot, the constable was also posted on duty at the Grain Market in Sector 26. She is believed to have contracted the disease from the affected pockets.

Meanwhile, at least 20 healthcare workers from the city, including the two tested positive on Tuesday, have been infected till now. At present, about 11 per cent of all COVID-19 patients in the city are healthcare workers.

Out of the 20, ten are from GMCH-32, six from PGIMER, two from GMSH-16 and two are doctors who worked in hospitals outside Chandigarh.

The 44-year-old sanitation attendant from PGIMER, who tested positive, was posted at the Advanced Pediatric department, but was unable to attend work since March 25, as he was not allowed to leave his residence at Kachi Colony.

The intern at GMSH 16, who tested positive, was posted in the emergency ward and had handled the body of a deceased COVID-19 patient from Hallomajra.

On Monday, a ward attendant from GMSH-16, who had handled the body of the deceased, was also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Apart from this, five more residents of Bapu Dham colony were diagnosed with COVID 19 on Tuesday. This includes a threemonth-old infant, a seven-year-old boy, a 33-year-old woman, a 35-year-old woman and a 75-year-old woman.

GMCH 32 doctor, nurse discharged

Two COVID-19 patients, including a 27-year-old resident from the Anesthesiology department and a 25-year-old nursing officer were discharged from PGIMER’s Nehru Extension Block after recovering. Both the healthcare workers had contracted the disease by coming in contact with a positive patient while on duty at GMCH 32.

Until now, 28 patients have recovered and been discharged, leaving 156 active cases in the UT.

250 tested from Bapu Dham Colony till now

Even though most of the active COVID-19 cases, 118 out of 156, are from the affected pocket of Bapu Dham Colony, only about 250 have been sampled for the disease and tested.

While surveillance and screening is limited to thermal scanning of residents, most suspected cases are immediate neighbours or contacts of positive patients, or those who have acute symptoms of disease.

The statistics that out of 250, as many as 118 were tested positive for the disease also reveals that the colony has a positivity rate of more than 47 per cent. Positivity rate is the proportion of people who tested positive against the total number of people tested.

Furthermore, only two patients out of the 118 have been discharged till now, which means that 116 are active COVID-19 cases, with more patients coming in everyday.

Until now, a total of 2,276 samples have been taken for testing in the UT and the results of 21 samples are awaited. The UT will now focus less on testing strategy and more on the symptoms of patients in terms of administering treatment to COVID-19 patients.

People will also be discharged earlier, and home isolation options will be made available to those who can comfortably isolate themselves at home.