Punjab reports 217 virus deaths, 6,867 fresh cases

Chandigarh, May 15 (PTI) Punjab on Saturday reported 217 more coronavirus deaths as 6,867 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state’s infection number to 4,90,755, according to a medical bulletin.

So far, the infection has killed 11,693 people in the state.

Twenty-six deaths were reported from Amritsar, 24 from Bathinda, 20 from Fazilka, 19 from Patiala and 18 from Ludhiana in the past 24 hours, the bulletin said.

Ludhiana reported the maximum 1,132 cases, followed by 573 in Jalandhar, 536 in Patiala, 535 in Mohali and 515 in Bathinda.

Meanwhile, 8,125 people recovered from the infection in the state.

The number of active cases also dropped from 79,359 on Friday to 77,789, the bulletin said.

The state's positivity rate also dropped from 11.29 per cent on Friday to 9.48 per cent. With 8,125 recoveries, the number of cured persons reached 4,01,273, the bulletin said.

There are 429 critical patients on ventilator while 9,902 are on oxygen support, it said. A total of 81,40,404 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh—the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana—reported eight deaths and 660 fresh cases, taking the union territory’s total infection count to 54,703, according to a medical bulletin.

So far, the infection has claimed 625 lives in the city. As many as 963 people recovered from the infection. The number of active cases dropped from 8,158 on Friday to 7,847, the bulletin said.

So far, 46,231 people have recovered from the infection in the city.

A total of 4,58,231 samples have been taken for testing till now, of which 4,02,365 tested negative while reports of 97 are awaited, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Administration said the city has been allotted 20 ventilators by the Centre.

UT Adviser Manoj Parida said, “It will help us tremendously in treating critical patients and save lives.” PTI CHS VSD RDK RDK