Virus takes a deadly turn, claims 25 more lives

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 6

The numbers are swelling! The district reported 25 deaths on Thursday, which is the highest in a single day since the start of the pandemic, taking the toll to 1,057.

The health authorities also reported 492 new positive cases with which the count increased to 35,600.

Of the deceased, two men died at private hospitals in Jalandhar, while one woman died at Civil Hospital, Gurdaspur. The district had till Thursday reported a maximum of 18 deaths in a single day.

Meanwhile, to cater to the increased demand of beds for Covid-19 patients, the district administration has allowed four more private hospitals to admit level-II and level-III patients. With this, the number of beds for level-II category patients increased by 30 and reached 866. With addition of 16 more beds for level-III patients, the total number has gone up to 526.

The health authorities said 7,373 persons were given the injections for Covid-19 on Thursday. The district till date has partially vaccinated 24,421 healthcare workers, 40,344 frontline workers and 1,83,287 residents above 45 years. It has also completely vaccinated 14,006 healthcare workers, 15,241 frontline workers and 30,749 residents above 45 years.

Those who succumbed to the virus

Those who died fighting the disease include Kuldeep Singh (84), a resident of Sundar Nagar; Gurdeep Singh (72) of Loharka road; Kulwinder Singh (50) of Guru Ka Bagh (Ajnala); Raj Kumari (64) and Kanta (67) of Vijay Nagar Batala Road; Parminder Singh (45) of Budha The, near Baba Bakala; Dhani Ram (72) of Greenfield; Malook Singh (60) of Nangli; Sudesh Kumar (66) of Prem Nagar; Davinder Kaur (64) of Baba Sahib Chowk; Vinita Bindra (50) of Sundar Nagar; Sarwan Singh (70) of Gobind Nagar; Dilbag Singh (85) of Chheharta; Satpal Singh (62) of Azad Nagar; Pinki (44) of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar; Gurmeet Singh (59) of Putlighar; Bimla Rani (75) of Kartar Nagar; Neelam Kumari (45) Macchhiwal, near Ajnala; Manchari Lal (77) of Guru Nanak Nagar; Sanjeev Mallan (63) of Golden Avenue; Harsewak Singh (72) of Ajnala; Savita Arora (60) of Chattiwind gate; Shingara Singh (67) of Nawa Pind; Manjit Kaur (52) of Kathunangal and Cheda Lal (72) of Loha Mandi.

Two die, 28 test +ve in Tarn Taran

Two persons — a woman and a man — died of Covid on Thursday, taking the toll to 232 in the district. Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh said 28 new infections were also reported on Thursday. With the new cases, the number of active cases reached 797, of which 510 have been isolated at their respective homes. As many as 1,02,491 persons have been give the jabs in the district till Thursday. OC

6 held for violating norms in Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran: The district police arrested six persons for violating Covid-19 restrictions on Wednesday. The police said Rohit Arora, proprietor of Mahi Resorts, Kairon, was arrested for violating Covid-19 restrictions. A function was being organised at the resort with several people, who were not wearing masks. SDM Patti Rajesh Sharma accompanied the raiding police party at the resort. The police said the accused violated the instructions issued by the District Magistrate. They have been booked under Section 188 of the IPC and Section 51-B of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The police also arrested a shopkeeper Komalpreet Singh of the Muradpur locality for opening his grocery shop. Sagar of the local town, Manpreet Singh of Wan Tara Singh and Rahul of Nanaksar locality, were nabbed for not wearing a mask. In another report, Laadbir Singh of Bhathal Bhai Ke village was arrested by Goindwal Sahib police for opening his shop. Cases under Section 188 of the IPC have been registered. OC

Over 200 inoculated at free vaccination camp

Amritsar: A free Covid vaccination camp was held at the Indian Medical Association (IMA) house today under the aegis of the Punjab Youth Development Board’s Mission Fateh in collaboration with the Health Department and local administration. Under the camp, 200 beneficiaries above 45 years of age were inoculated. Organiser of the camp Punjab Women Council, Chamber of Trade and Industry president Priyanka Goyal said it was a part of the vaccination drive being carried out across the district to ensure vaccination of all above 45 years of age. “Keeping in mind the present scenario, when there is a lot of panic among people over shortage of vaccine, we want to facilitate vaccination for senior citizens and those waiting for the second dose. Apart from vaccination, we have also been carrying out extensive awareness campaign on Covid safety norms,” she said. Amritsar North MLA Sunil Dutti also visited the vaccination camp and interacted with people. “Frontline workers, the Health Department and the state and district agencies are making coordinated efforts to ensure that citizens get easy access to vaccine. The current shortage of vaccine for above 18 is being taken up on priority basis and we hope that soon we’ll be able to open the drive to them too,” he said. TNS

College Teachers wear black badges, demand work from home

Amritsar: As per the call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU), the members of the local unit of DAV College, Amritsar, wore black badges to protest against the officials of the Higher Education Department regarding demands of teachers. Calling the department’s attitude ‘stubborn’, Dr BB Yadav, Area Secretary, GNDU, Amritsar, said college teachers in Punjab have been forced to come to college even when all classes were being conducted online. “It’s the indifferent and stubborn attitude of the officials of the department that has forced us to come on streets,” he said. The union has written to the CM requesting to direct the department to allow work from home to them as the situation had become very alarming in Punjab. “Education Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa had assured the PCCTU and subsequently instructed the officials of Higher Education Department to issue the circular to colleges for allowing work from home to teachers. Surprisingly, the bureaucrats of the department have failed to implement the directions and keep misleading them on this issue,” he said. Dr Gurdas Singh Sekhon, district president, Amritsar unit of PCCTU, said many teachers working in city colleges, had tested positive in the past few days. He said the agitation will intensify if there were no directions in this regard. TNS

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