Haryana adds nearly 30,000 COVID-19 cases in Aug, an 85 pc jump

With coronavirus infections witnessing a spike in many northern districts, Haryana added nearly 30,000 patients to its COVID-19 tally, a jump of 85 per cent, during August, an analysis of data provided by the state government shows.

On July 31, the total number of cases in the state was 34,965 which soared to 64,732 by August 31, the day which also saw the highest single-day spike of 1,450 cases.

A total of 29,767 cases were added to the tally, while the number of fatalities rose from 421 to 689, the state health department data showed.

Also, during the month, recovery rate improved slightly from 80.73 per cent on July 31 to 81.37 per cent on August 31, while fatality rate dropped to 1.06 per cent now from 1.20 per cent at the end of July.

The doubling rate of coronavirus infection too went up from 25 to 34 days while tests per million being conducted rose from 24,165 to 45,370 during the same period.

Faridabad and Gurgaon, the two hardest-hit districts of Haryana falling in the National Capital Region, saw a decline in the growth in the number of new cases. But instances of the infection more than doubled in some other districts, particularly in the northern region of the state, during the past month.

Faridabad's tally of coronavirus cases rose from 8,655 to 12,684, while the number of fatalities increased from 131 to 170. In Gurgaon, the number of cases went up from 9,067 to 11,931 and deaths increased from 123 to 133.

Before August, these two NCR districts had been reporting more than 100 cases daily.

Haryana had been maintaining that many of the coronavirus cases in its NCR districts had their origins in the national capital and authorities had even ordered sealing of the districts' borders with Delhi to check the spread of infection.

However, there has been a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities in some northern districts, including Panchkula, Ambala, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra during the past one month.

Officials attribute opening up of the state post-lockdown and movement of people between districts for work among the reasons behind the rise in cases.

Between July 31 and August 31, Panchkula witnessed a four-fold increase in cases from 561 to 2,230 while fatalities rose from two to 20. Ambala's cases went up from 1,543 to 3,842 and fatalities doubled from 16 to 32.

Karnal too registered a steep increase in infections from 1,057 to 2,869 while deaths rose from 10 to 30, while Yamunanagar saw the number of cases sharply go up from 265 to 1,631 with 19 fatalities from three months ago.

Kurukshetra saw over four-fold increase in cases from 423 to 1,761 and fatalities went up sharply from just two to 32.

Some other districts in the state which added to the cases and fatalities included Kaithal, Sonipat, Rewari, Bhiwani, Jind, Hisar, Sirsa, Panipat and Rohtak.

Kaithal's cases rose from 253 to 1,075, while the number of deaths rose to 11 from zero fatalities until a month ago. Sonipat's cases rose from 2,898 to 4,400 while fatalities increased from 32 to 41. Rewari's cases more than doubled from 1,709 to 3,522 and deaths jumped from 8 to 20.

In Bhiwani, the number of infections increased from 780 to 1,395 and fatalities rose from five to 12, Jind's cases rose from 285 to 631 and deaths went up from five to eight while Hisar's tally of cases also rose sharply from 939 to 2,324 with deaths went from 10 to 14.

Panipat recorded over three-fold increase in cases from 1,053 to 3,635 while fatalities went up from 14 to 47. Sirsa's cases increased more than three-fold from 371 to 1,371 with deaths going up from two to 16.

In Rohtak, cases doubled from 1,494 to 2,986 while fatalities rose from 23 to 31.

However, in Charkhi Dadri and Nuh districts, the situation was fairly under control.

Charkhi Dadri had 271 cases on August 31, from 155 a month ago with no fatality being added which stayed at one. In Nuh, cases rose from 543 to 740 with deaths going up from 12 to 14. 

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