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19 more dead in Ludhiana, 1,186 test positive for Covid as contagion rages on
Showing no signs of slowing down, the Covid-19 pandemic on Wednesday claimed 19 more lives in the district, which also recorded over 1,000 cases for the fifth consecutive day
Showing no signs of slowing down, the Covid-19 pandemic on Wednesday claimed 19 more lives in the district, which also recorded over 1,000 cases for the fifth consecutive day.
The 1,186 cases pushed Ludhiana’s caseload to 61,321 and the active cases to 10,778 – both highest in Punjab. At 1,470, the district is also leading the state’s charts in number of total deaths.
May began with an all-time high of 1,600 cases, following which Ludhiana has clocked 6,735 infections in just five days against 20,176 in the entirety of April and 7,294 in March. On the deaths’ front, the contagion has claimed 95 lives in May, compared to 232 in April and 115 in March.
Since April 26, the number of daily deaths has been in double digits for 11 straight days, reaching a record high of 21 on May 3.
36-year-old among latest victims
The youngest among Wednesday’s fatalities was a 36-year-old man from Prem Nagar.
Apart from him, the men who died were an 88-year-old from Civil Lines, an 83-year-old from Haibowal, a 78-year-old from Kila Raipur, two aged 72 from Khanna and Shivpuri, a 62-year-old from Jaspal Banger village, a 60-year-old, a 58-year-old from Shimlapuri, a 57-year-old from Millar Ganj, a 51-year-old from Dugri and a 45-year-old from Bharthala.
The female deceased included a 65-year-old, a 63-year-old from Dugri, two aged 62 from Shivaji Nagar and Shimlapuri, a 60-year-old from Haibowal Kalan, a 50-year-old from Bhamian village and a 44-year-old from Shimlapuri.
‘Don’t venture out unnecessarily’
Terming the pandemic situation grim and the health infrastructure severely strained in Ludhiana, deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma urged the residents not to ruin the hard work of thousands of healthcare and frontline workers by venturing out unnecessarily.
Interacting with residents through the official Facebook page of DPRO, Ludhiana, Sharma said currently, 1,913 beds, including 526 ICU and 1,387 oxygen, were occupied in various hospitals of the district, and the administration was arranging 100 beds at the Jawaddi Community Health Centre and Government School for the Meritorious.
He said the administration was also planning to set up more beds in the hostels of Punjab Agricultural University if the pandemic did not ease in the coming days.
The deputy commissioner observed that it was really sad that some people were still not observing Covid appropriate behaviour, despite the high risk of transmission.
He reiterated that those dealing in medicines and essential items like dairy, vegetables, fruits, poultry, meat, grocery, PDS shops, fertilisers, agriculture machinery, liquor, hardware, industrial material, tools, motor pipes, etc., were permitted to operate till 5pm, except during the weekend curfew (from 6pm on Friday to 5am on Monday).
Answering questions regarding the vaccination for bank staff and traders, by considering them frontline workers, he said the administration had earlier allowed them to get vaccinated at camps, but their response was lukewarm and now they will have to wait.
