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Ludhiana’s daily deaths shoot up again, 27 recorded in 24 hours
Among the latest fatalities, 15 were women and 12 were men. The oldest to succumb is a 72-year-old resident of BRS Nagar while the youngest is a 44-year-old resident of Maharana Partap Nagar.
The district’s daily deaths witnessed a sharp spike once again with 27 more people succumbing to the virus in 24 hours, health officials said on Wednesday. The daily cases, however, continued to decline for the fourth consecutive day with 731 cases being detected.
Among the latest fatalities, 15 were women and 12 were men. The oldest to succumb is a 72-year-old resident of BRS Nagar while the youngest is a 44-year-old resident of Maharana Partap Nagar.
The maximum number of deaths continued to be in the 50 to 60 age group. Ten fatalities were in their 50s while another eight were in their 60s. Five of the deceased were in their 70s while four were in their 40s.
The district’s toll now stands at 1,788 while fatality rate, as on Wednesday, was 2.28%. The total number of positive cases since the pandemic outbreak last year is 78,368.
There are 11,373 active cases at present.
17-hour curfew has started yielding results: DC
Deputy commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma on Wednesday said that the current 17-hour daily curfew imposed in Ludhiana has started to yield results as daily cases have started to decline. He said collective efforts of all stakeholders in the society and people’s support have been instrumental in stabilising the wave.
Speaking to the residents of Ludhiana during the weekly Facebook Live session on the official page of DPRO, the DC said that non-pharmaceutical interventions like curfew, tireless functioning of civil and police administration teams and the wholehearted support of people have slowed down the spread of the disease but it does not mean we can lower our guard.
He said the administration has increased testing for Covid-19 on a war footing and more than
1.5 lakh samples are now being tested every week.
DC visits rural area to spread Covid awareness
Giving a clarion call to people residing in rural areas to understand the importance of Covid appropriate behaviour, early testing and vaccination, deputy commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma on Wednesday interacted with people residing in villages of Ghaloti and Raqba.
During the interaction, Sharma urged people to wearing the mask correctly, maintaining two-yard distance, and wash their hands frequently to keep the virus at bay. He also advised people to get vaccinated and take a Covid test as soon as they see any symptoms.
He said that the early testing and treatment would help save the lives of the people. The DC also warned the residents against self-medication as it delays the detection of infection and can lead to health complications. He said the second wave has taken the rural areas into its grip so the villagers must keep tabs on unauthorised movement by holding ‘thikri pehras’ (community policing) to restrict the entry of persons having symptoms of cough, cold, fever, sore throat, and others. Dr Bishav Mohan from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital spoke about the symptoms of Covid-19.
Team constituted to ensure availability of essential drugs
Ludhiana: Deputy commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma on Wednesday constituted a committee of experts to ensure the availability of essential drugs for patients in the district.
The committee was constituted in wake of a few hospitals prescribing Remdesivir and Tocilizumab even though these are short in supply. Punjab health advisor Dr KK Talwar has already prescribed alternative medicines --Itolizumab and Dexamethasone— for treatment of Covid patients.
The expert group is headed by Dr KK Talwar, advisor, health and medical education, Government of Punjab, with Dr Hatinder Kaur Kaler, Ludhiana’s medical nodal officer,
Dr Rajesh Mahajan from DMCH Ludhiana, Dr Rajiv Kundara from SPS Hospital, Dr Anil Luther from Christian Medical College and Hospital, Dr Shelly from Fortis Hospital, and Zonal Licensing Authority (ZLA) Kulwinder Singh as its members.
The group would take a call on which drugs are urgently required and where these can be sourced from, provided any patient or attendant approaches the administration.
He said now there is a shortage of other antifungal or essential Covid drugs due to which family members of the patients run from pillar to post to get these drugs. It has been observed that some major private hospitals and stockists/chemists have available stock of essential drugs but these institutions offer these drugs only to patients admitted on their premises.
The DC said that in these unprecedented times, the essential drugs should be offered to patients who need them the most as per medical condition, no matter where they are admitted.
The DC said the committee will decide on which patient requires which essential drug and from where it is to be sourced.
The prescribing doctor would have to describe to the committee the patient’s record to justify the requirement of medicine, whenever summoned by the committee. ZLA would ensure the presence of stock position with all hospitals/stockists/chemists about these drugs.
The DC made it clear that all essential Covid drugs available in Ludhiana are a common resource pool available for all Covid patients admitted in various hospitals of the Ludhiana district. Once any essential drug is allocated by the committee to any particular patient then the stocking hospital/stockist/chemist would be responsible under National Disaster Management Act 2005 and Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 to sell that drug to a particular patient.
He said that violation by any hospital/stockist/chemist would be dealt with strictly under National Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.
