Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 21

The district health authorities on Friday reported the death of nine persons due to Covid-19, pushing the toll to 1,290. Besides, there is no let-up in the number of rising positive cases as the district witnessed 260 fresh cases, taking the tally to 42,114. Of the new cases, 183 are influenza-like illness (ILI) cases and 77 are contacts of positive patients.

The authorities reported the recovery of 423 patients with which the recovery count improved to 36,399. The district has at present 4,425 active cases.

The report of two positive cases from the wholesale vegetable and fruit market has created a panic among traders and vendors.

The district administration has warned strict action against those hospitals which were overcharging Covid-19 patients during their treatment. Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira on Friday said if a hospital or a doctor exploited any patient, the district administration would be forced to take strict action against them under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The government was empowered to shut the hospital or take control over the hospital.

He said complaints were pouring in that private hospitals were fleecing patients by charging above the rates fixed by the government. Khaira clarified that all private hospitals should not take advantage of any patient’s compulsion failing which the government would be left with no other option but to take punitive action against the defaulting hospital.

He said most of the government and private doctors and paramedical staff had set a good example of serving the people during these difficult times, but there were some black sheep in the system who were cheating people.

He said the state and district-level committees would soon conduct a detailed audit of the treatment of Covid-19 patients done by private hospitals.