Ludhiana’s Covid cases remain below 1,000 for third straight day, 21 dead

Cases started receding on May 16 when 942 people had tested positive, the lowest since April 30’s 792 cases, followed by 851 infections on May 17

Covid-19 cases on Tuesday remained below the 1,000 mark for the third day in a row with 991 new infections. However, the deaths were still on the higher side with 21 people losing the battle to the contagion.

A young man getting tested for Covid-19 at the Community Health Centre in Jawaddi, Ludhiana, on Tuesday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Cases started receding on May 16 when 942 people had tested positive, the lowest since April 30’s 792 cases, followed by 851 infections on May 17.

The deaths, too, saw a downturn, dropping below 20 on May 14 (19) for the first time since the 19 fatalities on May 8. But, have since May 16 remained above the 20 mark daily.

At nine, it was only on April 25 last when the daily deaths were below 10.

The youngest among those who died on Tuesday was a 31-year-old woman and the oldest, a 75-year-old resident of Basant Vihar.

As many as seven of the deceased were in their 60s, six in their 50s, while four were aged above 70. Three people aged between 40 and 50 were also among those who died.

With the fresh cases, Ludhiana’s cases and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic have climbed to 77,637 and 1,761, respectively, both highest in Punjab.

However, at 7.53%, the positivity rate – proportion of samples that test positive – was below the state average of 11.5% on Tuesday.

Yet, in the terms of active cases, Ludhiana is the worst affected in the state with 12,371 people still recuperating at hospitals or in home isolation. As many as 61 patients are on ventilator support.

So far in May, the district has clocked 23,051 cases and 386 deaths, compared to 20,176 cases and 231 deaths through April when the second wave of the pandemic started sweeping the district.