37 deaths, 1,741 cases in another big surge in state

LUDHIANA/JALANDHAR/BATHINDA/ SANGRUR/PATIALA: Punjab on Thursday reported 37 Covid-19related fatalities taking the death toll to 957. The state also witnessed biggest single-day spike of 1,741, taking the tally to 37,824, according to a bulletin released by the government.

Vice-chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), and professional advisor to Punjab’s Covid response Dr Raj Bahadur contracted the virus, confirmed district epidemiologist Dr Anita Chauhan. He came in contact with Punjab Vidhan Sabha deputy speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti, who was tested positive on August 16, during an Independence Day function at Faridkot.

The record jump in the caseload came on a day when the government announced extension of night curfew by two hours in all cities from August 21. On August 17, the state had reported a maximum daily increase of 1,704 cases.

Ten deaths were reported from Ludhiana, five each from Mohali, Patiala and Sangrur, three from Jalandhar, two each from SBS Nagar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur and one each from Gurdaspur, Kapurthala and Muktsar, as per the bulletin.

Ludhiana again topped the list with 398 positive cases, followed by Jalandhar 242, Mohali 169, Bathinda 148, Ferozepur 133, Moga 94, Patiala 81, Amritsar 75, Barnala 58 and Fazilka 46, the bulletin said.

Four districts, of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Amritsar account for 55% of the total coronavirus cases and 63% of the total fatalities in the state, the bulletin said. A total of 334 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection. So far, 23,037 people have been cured of the infection.