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Ludhiana: 60 deaths in two days send alarm bells ringing
Deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma described the situation as ‘critical’ and reiterated that people should not take the matter lightly.
Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc in Ludhiana as 30 more patients lost their battle to the virus in 24 hours, taking the district’s two-day toll to 60. Besides, 1,386 persons also tested positive, taking the active cases in the district to 11,480 on Tuesday.
The district toll since the pandemic outbreak has now touched 1, 610 while the total number of cases is 69,851.
Deputy commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma described the situation as ‘critical’ and reiterated that people should not take the matter lightly.
“The situation is very critical at the moment. The cases and deaths are rapidly rising. As of now, we are not short of oxygen, but we don’t know what will happen if the situation fails to show improvement in the coming days. Hospitals are choked to capacity, we are witnessing such a high number of deaths daily and still some people are not serious,” he said.
The DC added that the state is short of vaccines and oxygen supply, but officials are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that lives are saved. Sharma added that the current situation calls for a complete lockdown, but the administration has given a relaxation due to economic considerations. “There were worries that the poor may not be able to survive another lockdown, so a relaxation has been given in the morning hours to help them earn a livelihood. But that does not mean people start crowding public places and markets,” he said.
Of the 30 deaths reported on Tuesday, the youngest is a 26-year-old woman of Sandhu Nagar while the oldest is also a woman, an 88-year-old from Civil Lines. A total of 23 men and seven women are among those who succumbed to the virus. Eight of the fatalities were in their 50s, eight others were in their 60s, seven were in their 70s and two in 80s. Three persons who died were in their 40s while two other victims were aged 33 and 26.
High efficiency gas chamber started for cremations
Due to escalation in death rate in Punjab, a new type of LPG gas fired cremation chamber with enclosed stainless-steel structure, which can withstand high temperature, has been designed by a team of engineers headed by Ranjodh Singh, managing director, GST group, Ludhiana.
The whole cremation will take less than an hour with very little emission and low gas consumption.
The first cremation making use of this chamber was performed on Tuesday at Ramgarhia Shamshanghat, Dholewal, Ludhiana, of Uma Pati, aged 60, who succumbed to Covid-19 at civil hospital, Ludhiana.
So far, Ramgarhia cremation ground, under the management of Ramgarhia Educational Council (regd) has performed 739 Covid cremations, of which 138 were in May alone.
Ranjodh Singh said, “We will supply the LPG gas chambers to other crematoriums in Ludhiana and Punjab, at cost-to-cost basis.”
Panel to streamline O2 supply to private individuals, NGO’s
With the rising number of Covid critical care patients, there is an increased demand for oxygen by private individuals as well as NGOs. As per the order dated May 2, oxygen prescription to private individuals in home isolation has been prohibited. Despite these orders, a lot many people are approaching oxygen plants directly to get oxygen cylinders, said the DC. To streamline this system, a committee, headed by nodal officer Dr Hatinder Kaur Kaler, has been formed to streamline the system to issue oxygen cylinders to individual patients and NGOs.
