Punjab logs 1,239 new Covid-19 cases, highest in 7 months; tally nearing 190,000
Out of the fresh cases registered in the state, Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar contributed the maximum (271) followed by other districts such as Hoshiarpur (200), Jalandhar (191), Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (107) and Ludhiana (92).
Punjab added 1,239 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 14 related fatalities, which pushed the state’s tally and death toll to 189,620 and 5,941 respectively, according to the health department’s bulletin on Monday. Monday’s tally in the state has been the highest since August last year and this is the fourth time this year that the daily cases have gone above the 1,000-mark. Also, the fresh cases are up by 188 from Sunday when 1,051 people were tested positive for the viral disease.
Nearly 176,000 people have recovered till now with 692 patients cured in the last 24 hours and active cases in the state have climbed to 8,020, the bulletin showed. However, no new patients were placed on oxygen support on Monday while those in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and ventilator support were at 11 and 4 respectively. The bulletin added that 14,492 samples were collected on Monday and 28,326 tests had been carried out.
Out of the fresh cases registered in the state, Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar contributed the maximum (271) followed by other districts such as Hoshiarpur (200), Jalandhar (191), Sahibzada Ajit Singh (SAS) Nagar (107) and Ludhiana (92). SBS Nagar’s coronavirus disease caseload has crossed the 5,000-mark of which 3,855 have recovered while 133 have succumbed to the disease. Jalandhar, which continues to be one of the worst-hit regions in the state, has seen 22,732 cases so far with 26,110 recoveries and 1,038 deaths.
The Punjab government had imposed night curfew from Saturday in Jalandhar, SBS Nagar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala in order to combat the sudden rise in their cases. The curfew will remain in place in these areas from 11pm to 5am.
Punjab has seen its overall Covid-19 disease situation worsening in the last three weeks. The Centre on Saturday rushed high-level multi-disciplinary public health teams to assist the state government in Covid-19 surveillance, control and containment measures, the Union health ministry said adding that the teams would visit all hotspots in the state and find out reasons for the increase in cases. Apart from this, the teams would interact with the state authorities to understand the challenges they are facing.