6 deaths, 337 new cases in Amritsar district

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 2

The district reported six more deaths due to Covid-19 on Friday, pushing the toll to 693. The district health authorities also reported 337 new positive cases, taking the tally to 21,679.

The deceased have been identified as 31-year-old Mandeep Singh of Sultanwind Road, 62-year-old Chanchal Singh of Friends Avenue, 55-year-old Neelam, a resident of Fateh Singh colony (Gate Hakeema), 80-year-old Jawant Kaur, a resident of Othian village, 52-year-old Dalbir Singh, a resident of Imperial city locality (Lopoka Road) and 70-year-old Harbas Kaur, a resident of Indira colony (Kot Khalsa). The new cases include 267 influenza-like illness cases and 70 contacts of positive cases.

The district health authorities said special efforts were being made to collect samples from the most-affected areas in the district. As part of the drive, 94 samples were collected from the New Partap Nagar area which was notified as a micro-containment zone. Officials said seven of 94 tested positive.

Meanwhile, with recovery of 190 patients, the recovery count has also improved to 17,689. At present, the district has a total of 3,297 active cases.

The district health officials said 5,024 persons were given the vaccine jab on Friday. These included 221 healthcare workers, 831 frontline workers, 1,631 in the age group of 45-59 years and 1,830 senior citizens who were given the first dose of vaccination. Besides, 58 healthcare workers, 177 frontline workers, 69 persons in the age group of 45-59 years and 208 senior citizens were given the jab.

Meanwhile, the district has also started the vaccination drive for those citizens who are above 45 years. “Now anyone above 45 years of age, even if he or she does not have any health condition as earlier specified by the government is eligible to get the injection,” said Civil Surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh. He said vaccination for those above 45 years had started on April 1 and the response from public was encouraging.