Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 9
Punjab reported nine deaths in the last 24 hours — highest in a day since July last year when the second Covid wave was nearing end. As per the Covid media bulletin, the state reported 3,922 fresh cases, including nine deaths.
Day after press meet, chief poll officer +ve
- A day after the poll schedule was announced, Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday
- Raju had addressed a press meet on Saturday after the code of conduct had come into force
- Sources said Raju had started showing symptoms a few days ago, following which his sample was collected on Saturday
- Earlier, CM Charanjit Channi’s wife, son, daughter-in-law and Technical Education Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh tested positive
40% yet to receive 2nd dose in abohar
After fresh curbs last week, frequency of residents heading to the Abohar Civil Hospital to get vaccinated increased for a few days. The daily average stood above 1,000 shots. However, on Sunday, only 200 turned up. Senior Medical Officer Dr Gagandeep Singh said around 40% of beneficiaries were yet to get their second dose. Seven more persons tested positive in the past three days. OC
In district-wise break-up, Patiala reported three deaths and Sangrur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar and Pathankot reported one death each.
As far as cases are concerned, Patiala topped the chart with 768 cases, followed by SAS Nagar (750), Ludhiana (509), Amritsar (305), Jalandhar (292) and Pathankot (256).
Amid high fatality rate, high positivity rate is another concern for the state. As Punjab’s Covid testing remains low, the positivity rate at 15 per cent is quite high as compared to the national average of around 10 per cent.
Punjab Covid testing has reached around 25,000 tests daily, which is quite low as compared to the neighbouring states. On Saturday, out of 24,877 tests done, 3,643 were found positive. In Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the positivity rate remains around 8 per cent.
Covid positivity rate hits 15%, Patiala worst-affected
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