Covid-19: 23 more succumb, Punjab fatalities double in 16 days

CHANDIGARH: Punjab registered 998 new Covid-19 positive cases on Saturday and 23 deaths because of the deadly virus.
With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state reached 22,928 and the death toll rose to 562. The number of Covid fatalities in Punjab has doubled in just 16 days. Till July 24, the state had recorded 282 deaths. These were reported over a period of four months since the first fatality in the state took place on March 18.
However, deaths rose sharply in the last week on July and in August.
On Saturday, Ludhiana district recorded the highest number of 12 deaths, followed by three in Patiala, two in Amritsar, and one each in Barnala, Jalandhar, Mohali, Nawanshahr, Ropar and Sangrur districts.
Also, 820 patients were discharged from hospitals across the state. The highest number of 168 new cases were recorded in Ludhiana district, followed by 139 in Patiala, 120 in Jalandhar, 102 in Amritsar, 91 in Mohali, 72 in Bathinda, 50 in Gurdaspur, 32 in Sangrur, 31 each in Kapurthala and Ropar, 29 in Pathankot, 24 in Tarn Taran, 18 in Faridkot, 17 in Ferozepur, 16 in Muktsar, 14 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 12 in Hoshiarpur, 11 in Barnala, eight each in Mansa and Fazilka, four in Nawanshahr, and one in Moga.
In 21 cases, the source of infection was outside Punjab. Also, 21 new patients are jail inmates, 16 are police personnel, nine are frontline workers, and five health workers.
The number of active cases in the state was 7,506 on Saturday. Of them, Ludhiana district had the highest number of 1,649 active cases. It was followed by 920 in Jalandhar, 879 in Patiala, 581 in Mohali and 428 in Bathinda.