75 new COVID-19 cases in Punjab; total 1,526

The novel coronavirus deaths rose to 27 in Punjab on Wednesday with two more fatalities, while the number of cases climbed by 75 to 1,526, the Health Department said.

A 29-year-old man from Jalandhar died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the PGIMER in Chandigarh on Tuesday, while a 39 year-old man died in Patiala on Tuesday, according to a medical bulletin.

The two deaths take the total fatalities in the state due to the pandemic to 27. A patient is critical and is on ventilator support, the bulletin said.

Seventy-five people, including 35 Nanded pilgrims, tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases to 1,526. There are 1,364 active cases, according to the bulletin.

A total of 135 COVID-19 patients have been been discharged in the state so far with the recovery of two more people from Patiala and Jalandhar, it said.

Among the new cases, 28 were reported in Moga, 16 in Tarn Taran, and 13 in Amritsar districts. Two each were from Patiala, Mansa, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, the bulletin said.

There is a new COVID-19 case each in Barnala, Muktsar, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts, it said.

A total of 32,060 samples have been taken so far in the state, out of which 24,303 are negative and reports of 6,231 are still awaited.

A health official said the number of pilgrims from Nanded, Maharashtra, testing positive for the pathogen reached 1,004, which is 66 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in the state.

Amritsar continued to top the COVID-19 tally in the state with 230 cases, followed by 135 in Jalandhar, 124 in Ludhiana and 95 in Mohali districts.

Hoshiarpur and Patiala reported 89 cases each, followed 87 in Sangrur, 85 each in SBS Nagar and Gurdaspur districts.

Sixty-five people have been afflicted with the disease in Muktsar, 56 in Moga, 45 in Faridkot and 43 in Ferozepur districts.

The number coronavirus infections is 39 in Fazilka, 37 in Bathinda, 27 in Pathankot and 20 in Barnala. Nineteen people each have tested positive so far in Mansa and Fatehgarh Sahib, 18 in Kapurthala and 16 in Rupnagar, the bulletin added.