11 more test positive for COVID-19 in Punjab; total count reaches 309

Eleven more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Punjab, taking the total count of COVID-19 cases in the state to 309, officials said here on Saturday.

Of the fresh cases, six were reported in Patiala, three in Jalandhar and one each in SBS Nagar and Pathankot, they added.

A doctor working at a private hospital in Pathankot tested positive on Friday night and was admitted to civil hospital there, the officials said.

SBS Nagar on Saturday witnessed a fresh case with a 25-year-old truck driver, resident of Boothgarh village in Balachaur sub-division, testing positive for the infection, they added. SBS Nagar Civil Surgeon Rajinder Parsad Bhatia issued an official statement, saying the entire village was placed under containment plan. The district witnessed a new COVID-19 case after almost a month.

Notably, the medical bulletin issued by the state government did not mention the fresh case reported in SBS Nagar. Meanwhile, Jalandhar district surpassed Mohali in terms of the number of confirmed cases. Jalandhar now tops the COVID-19 tally in the state with 66 cases, followed by Mohali with 63, the medical bulletin said.

In addition to these, 61 cases were reported in Patiala, 25 in Pathankot, 20 in SBS Nagar, 17 in Ludhiana, 14 in Amritsar, 13 in Mansa, seven in Hoshiarpur, four in Moga, three each in Rupnagar, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Faridkot, two each in Fatehgarh Sahib and Barnala, and one each in Muktsar, Gurdsapur and Ferozepur, it added. One patient is in a critical condition and on ventilator support, the bulletin stated, adding that two patients were discharged from hospitals in Kapurthala and Mansa districts.

Seventeen people have died of the disease in the state so far and 72 patients have been discharged from hospitals after being cured, it said. A total of 13,270 samples have been taken so far in the state for testing, of which reports of 3,569 samples are still awaited. There are 219 active cases in the state, the bulletin said.