Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Sangrur, July 2

In Sangrur district, which witnessed the highest Covid fatality rate of 5.3 per cent, normalcy has returned in the past few days. However, residents are still living in fear as the health facilities have not been upgraded to prevent the third wave.

“During the second wave, we heard tall claims of improvement of health facilities in district. However, as no more deaths are being reported, the government authorities have forgotten to ramp up the facilities to prevent more fatalities in case of a third wave,” said Ravinder Singh, a local.

As per the latest report of the Health Department, as many as 859 persons have lost their lives to Covid in the district to date while there are 87 active cases. One more Covid patient died in Dhuri on Thursday night. Of the total deaths, 411 persons died in May alone.

“Lack of much-needed health facilities is responsible for such a high number of Covid deaths in Sangrur,” said Satwinder Singh, another local.

Before the elevation of Malerkotla as a district, Sangrur had two level-2 facilities at the Civil Hospital and the Dhuri hospital had dedicated facilities for pregnant women. But patients of many areas, including Khanauri,Moonak, Lehra, Kauhrian and Dirba, have to cover a long distance even for a level-2 facility.