Surge in infections: 405 new cases in just 8 days

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 24

While the district administration and health authorities have started preparing in anticipation of a second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, general public seems to have lowered the guard and hardly follow the health guidelines.

Minister OP Soni tests positive, 59 new cases reported in district

• The Health Department reported 59 new Covid positive cases, including six who entered India from Pakistan through Attari International check-post. With this, the total count in the district has increased to 12,746 on Tuesday. The new cases include 41 influenza like illness cases and 18 contacts of positive patients.
• Medical Education and Research Minister Om Parkash Soni tested positive. Soni has quarantined himself at his residence. The district has not reported Covid-related death today and the toll was 478. The authorities reported recovery of 29 patients after which the recovery count has reached 11,679. At present, there are 589 active cases.

A look at the number of cases being reported daily reveals that there has been a surge in infections. The district reported 50 new cases on an average in the last eight days. In total, the health authorities reported 405 new cases from November 17 to date.

In comparison, the district had reported 447 new cases from November 1 to November 16. While the spread of infection is on the rise, residents can be seen without masks and not practising social distancing at public places and markets. The authorities said they were looking into improving the shortcomings before the second wave hits.

Amristar Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira asked the health authorities for better coordination between rapid response system and Covid Care Centre.

The Deputy Commissioner said, “Private hospitals have been asked to furnish the details of patients, beds and infrastructure available with them to the administration.”

He said mobile vans were being used to increase testing in different areas of the city. Khaira said people should take precautions while stepping out and should avoid unnecessary movement.

The health authorities said number of deaths had witnessed significant fall during the last two months due to better management of services.

Meanwhile, the authorities reported only 24 deaths in November so far, as compared to 86 in October and 203 deaths in September.