Coronavirus: Punjab reports 87 new cases; death toll rises to 29

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 8

Punjab on Friday reported one COVID-19 death and 87 new infections, taking the state's death toll to 39 from 1,731 cases.

Gurdaspur (24); SBS Nagar (18); Tarn Taran (11); Jalandhar (11); Amritsar (11); Kapurthala (5); Fatehgarh Sahib (4); Barnala (1); Mansa (1); and Bathinda (1) all reported new cases on Friday, Punjab's evening COVID bulletin showed. 

At least 43 of these cases were pilgrims who recently returned from Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra's Nanded and tested positive and four were migrant workers.

Gurdaspur reported 24 new cases, 17 of which were pilgrims. Gurdaspur's tally is now up to 109. 

The district reported eight new cases later in the evening, although these have yet to be added to the official tally.

Of SBS Nagar's 18 cases, 10 were pilgrims, four were migrant workers, and four others were new cases. 

Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Jalandhar each reported 11 cases. The bulletin showed that all 11 Tarn Taran's new cases and 10 of Amritsar's cases were pilgrims. Amritsar's eleventh case was a new influenza-like illness (ILI) case. 

There's no breakdown yet of Jalandhar's cases.

Kapurthala reported five cases, all of them pilgrims who tested positive. 

Fathegarh Sahib reported four new cases, one of who was contact of an already diagnosed case.

A labourer tested positive in Mansa. Bathinda also reported an ILI. One combine worker tested positive in Barnala. 

Punjab's coronavirus figures have shot up exponentially over the past 10 days---72 per cent of the state's cases have been recorded in just this month.  

Six districts--- Amritsar (287), Jalandhar (158), Tarn Taran (157), Ludhiana (125), Gurdapsur (109) and SBS Nagar (103)---account for 54 per cent of Punjab's total COVID-19 cases.

Punjab also revised its death toll to 29.

More deaths 

Hoshiarpur reported that a 50-year-old man died on Friday, taking the district's COVID toll to four. 

An elderly man who died of coronavirus on Thursday was among two people who tested positive in Mohali on Friday, officials said.

A 74-year-old man from Batlana, Zirakpur, died at a private hospital in Chandigarh's Sector 26 on Thursday evening. After his test results came back positive, hospital management informed Mohali district administration, Mohali Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh. A 24-year-old woman from Nayagaon who recently had a baby at Government Multi Speciality Hospital in Sector 16 also tested positive. 

Neither cases have been added to the state's official tally yet, but when they are, it would take Mohali's tally to 98 infections and three deaths.

Gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria tests negative, shifted to Patiala jail

Gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who was admitted to the Government Rajindra Hospital, was shifted to the Patiala Central Jail on Thursday night after he tested negative for coronavirus. 

All jail officials—including the Jail Superintendent—have also tested negative for coronavirus. 

Inmates have also tested negative, said the Health Department.