With 19 fatalities, state logs highest single-day death toll
CASES MOUNT Reports 609 fresh infections and highest recoveries of 688 patients
LUDHIANA/AMRITSAR/PATIALA/ SANGRUR/BATHINDA/JALANDHAR: Punjab on Tuesday reported a record single-day spike of 609 cases and record 19 coronavirus deaths. With this, the infection tally rose to 14,378 and death toll 336.
Ludhiana reported six deaths, followed by three each in Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Sangrur and Patiala and one in Hoshiarpur, according to the media bulletin released by the state government.
The state also reported highest recoveries on Tuesday, with 688 patients being discharged from hospitals. A maximum of 426 patients recovered in Jalandhar district.
Six persons died while 146 tested positive in Ludhiana. The virus has so far claimed 71 lives in the district since March 29.
Three Amritsar residents died of Covid-19 during the treatment on Tuesday, health officials said. The district also reported 72 fresh Covid cases, of which 29 are locally transmitted cases and 43 are close contacts of positive patients. The total tally of district is now 1,646, of which 71 have died and 1,197 have recovered. Among the 72 cases, 24 are inmates of the Amritsar Central Jail and seven are jail staff members. Besides, Gurdaspur district reported 23 more cases.
Meanwhile, Tarn Taran reported three deaths 13 fresh cases. Sixty more people contracted the virus in and two in SBS Nagar.
Three people succumbed to the virus while 65 contracted the infection in Patiala district. Of the positive cases, 49 are from Patiala city, four each from Nabha and Rajpura, one from Samana and seven from different villages across the district.
Three coronavirus deaths were reported in Sangrur district, while seven people contracted the infection. Meanwhile, the administration has asked Malerkotla residents celebrate Eid at home.
Meanwhile, Ferozepur reported 39 fresh cases, including five staffers of a private bank, 23 in Fazilka, 17 in Bathinda and two in Mansa.
Twenty-six fresh cases were reported from Kapurthala. Of these, 12 are from Kapurthala modern jail, 7 from Phagwara, 4 from Kapurthala city. Meanwhile, 17 persons contracted the infection in Moga and 24 in Mohali.
38 CONTACTS OF BATHINDA COP TEST POSITIVE IN FOUR DAYS
The district health authorities are baffled after 38 people, including 28 police personnel, have tested positive for coronavirus from a single source in the past four days. Official sources said the number may swell further as testing and tracing of contacts of all these asymptomatic patients is underway.
An ASI posted at Nathana police station, about 40 km from the district headquarters, first tested positive on July 22.
Two days later, most of the staff of Nathana, including the station house officer (SHO), were found infected with coronavirus.
District authorities said nine family members of the ASI and one nurse at the community health centre tested positive on Monday. Since the ASI, who had a recent travel history, and other cops may have met several more persons before being tested, the administration has decided to launch intensive testing in the area. Though Bathinda SSP Nanak Singh was not available for comment, inspector general of police, Bathinda range, Jaskaran Singh said the ASI had gone to Uttar Pradesh for investigation in a murder case.