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Ludhiana’s Covid cases breach 30,000 mark with 292 infections, four dead
The fresh infections took the district’s active cases to 1,643, while the death toll also rose to 1,072
The district’s daily Covid-19 count shot up to 292 on Friday, pushing the total cases to 30,066, just four days after the tally crossed 29,000.
The fresh infections took the active cases to 1,643, while the death toll also rose to 1,072 with four casualties. As many as 27,350 patients have recuperated so far.
Friday was the fifth consecutive day to witness over 200 cases, while 23 people lost their lives to the virus during this period. The pandemic had claimed four lives on Thursday, five on Wednesday, six on Tuesday and four on Monday.
On Monday, the week had started with 226 cases, followed by 245 infections on Tuesday, while 233 cases were reported on Wednesday and another 237 on Thursday.
The latest fatalities include three women and a 45-year-old man from Ajlod village in Samrala. The women were a 72-year-old and a 62-year-old from Khanna, and a 38-year-old from Detwal.
Six students, six teachers positive
The positive patients included six students, including two from Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Multipurpose School, and one student each from DD Jain College, Kadwai Nagar; Khalsa College for Girls; PAU and CFC School, Haibowal.
Besides, one teacher each from St Soldier School; GSSS, New Subash Nagar; GSSS, Gill; Sacred Heart Convent School, BRS Nagar; Harvest School, Jassowal; and BCM School, Shastri Nagar, also tested positive.
5,442 receive Covid vaccine
As many as 5,442 people were inoculated against Covid-19 at various government and private health facilities in Ludhiana on Friday. These included 2,247 senior citizens and 1,256 comorbid people aged between 45 and 59.
Besides, 476 healthcare workers came for the first dose, while 147 received the second dose. As many as 1,064 frontline workers also got the first dose and another 252 turned up for the second dose.
So far, 93,660 people in the district have been immunised against the virus.
PAU asks students to vacate hostels till April 2
Taking note of the rising Covid-19 cases, Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor BS Dhillon has directed students, except foreign nationals, to vacate all hostels from March 22 to April 2. Meanwhile, the classes will be held online.
Private hospitals told to ramp up bed capacity
In a move to strengthen city’s healthcare infrastructure to deal with the spike in Covid cases, deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma and commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal have directed private hospitals to augment their bed capacity without any delay.
According to the DC, around 350 patients are admitted in private hospitals, with majority of them being serious. Similarly, 30 patients are undergoing treatment at government hospitals and many among them are also critical.
“The positivity rate has spiked to 6% with 240 to 250 daily cases. Deaths per week have also increased from seven to 25 to 30, while hospitalisation has jumped to 10%,” said Sharma.
He added that the administration had constituted teams to conduct audit of bed capacity at hospitals, which will start on Saturday.
The officials appealed to people not to take symptoms lightly and contact doctors soon.
