Punjab recorded 77 fresh COVID-19 cases on June 13 and reported two more deaths taking the tally to 65, according to an official statement.

The number of positive cases has reached 3,063. The patients who died were from Amritsar district. The major chunk of the new cases, 11 and six were reported from S.A.S. Nagar and Pathankot districts respectively. There were 671 active cases and 2,327 patients had so far been cured, the Health department said.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said several symptomatic persons who failed to get any treatment in Delhi were coming to Punjab to get tested.

“The Delhi government has failed to conduct COVID-19 test on even symptomatic persons in their government hospitals. About 97% of those coming in from Delhi since one month have tested positive and have been treated by the Punjab government,” said Mr. Sidhu in a statement.

Mr. Sidhu said that it was a matter of concern that a large number of symptomatic people were moving from Delhi to Punjab to get treatment free of cost. “It has come to light that due to the massive outbreak in the national capital, people are battling for corona test, besides for beds in government hospitals,” he said.

Hospitals warned

Taking cognisance of reports of highly exorbitant charges being charged by private hospitals from COVID patients, Mr. Sidhu warned of stringent action against such hospitals, including cancellation of licences.

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Separately, State’s Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said 17 Punjab police personnel had tested positive in a random sampling of 7,165 of a cross-section of personnel posted in police stations and on other frontline jobs, as part of a special RT-PCR COVID testing drive.

“While 1,868 of the 7,165 samples collected till June 12 tested negative, results for 5,280 are pending. The sampling process started on June 1, and efforts were being made to test a maximum number of police personnel posted in police stations and other high-risk areas on a daily basis,” he said. All the 17 infected personnel were in isolation, either in civil hospitals or in COVID care centres.