The new infections in Punjab are growing by 1.2 per cent every day in the past one week, with the State health authorities blaming it on the UK variant that has been found in about 80 per cent of the State’s Covid patients.
On Thursday, the State registered the steepest-ever single-day spike with 4,333 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the active cases in the state past the 30,000-mark. SAS Nagar (Mohali), with a whopping 860 fresh cases, recorded the highest-ever figure by any district since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Against the total 34,409 tests conducted in a day, the State on Thursday registered the daily positivity rate of 12.59 per cent. The state’s tally now stood at 2,86,816, of which 10.47 per cent (total 30,033) are active cases.
With Punjab’s case fatality rate remaining highest in the country at 2.69 per cent, the state reported 51 fatalities in the past 24 hours. Amritsar, with ten deaths, reported the maximum casualties, followed by nine in Hoshiarpur; six each from Gurdaspur and Ludhiana; and five from Patiala.
Two deaths each were reported from Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ferozepur, and Jalandhar; while one each were reported from Fazilka, Faridkot, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Muktsar, Pathankot, Sangrur, and Tarn Taran.
Reporting the highest ever fresh cases in a single day by any district, Mohali currently has the maximum number of active cases, 5,226 — which accounts for 17.40 per cent of the total active cases in the State, and 15.44 per cent of the total positive cases in the district.
State Health Secretary Hussan Lal on Thursday apprised during the Covid review meeting that against the 8.1 per cent overall positivity in Punjab, the Mohali district was reporting the highest 18 per cent. Along with Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Patiala, the Mohali district is reporting high transmission.
Besides Mohali, other districts that reported fresh infections in three-digit figure include Ludhiana (482), Jalandhar (399), Amritsar (365), Patiala (353), Bathinda (301), Gurdaspur (194), Tarn Taran (186), Hoshiarpur (153), Kapurthala and Ferozepur (127 each), Faridkot (110), and Ropar (104).
