Punjab may see 3K Covid cases per day by month-end: Govt

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

Over the next three weeks, the number of Covid cases may touch 3,000 a day. The fact came to the fore during a meeting held today under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan.

In order to effectively manage the second wave of Covid-19 in Punjab and to break the chain of transmission, a high-level meeting was chaired by Vini Mahajan, wherein the deputy commissioners, police chiefs and key officials of other stakeholder departments like health and medical education were present.

1,179 fresh cases

The state reported 1,179 cases and 12 deaths in the past 24 hours. In the district-wise break of cases, Jalandhar topped the list with three deaths, followed by Ludhiana and Patiala (two deaths each), and SBS Nagar, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Hoshiarpur (one death each).

During the meeting, Principal Secretary, Health, Hussan Lal apprised the Chief Secretary of a model which predicted a huge surge in the number of cases starting mid-March with 3,000 cases per day by the end of it. At present, the state is getting around 1,000 cases per day.

Hussan Lal presented the current status of Covid trends. He shared the data about some super-spreader events like marriages, social gatherings and offices resulting in greater exposure and increased positivity. He informed that 2, 38,367 persons had already been given first dose of Covid vaccine with no major adverse events following immunisation.

The Chief Secretary reviewed the preparedness for the second wave of the pandemic with each district along with the status of the vaccination.

She said the second wave of the disease had started and all DCs and police chiefs must ensure that large gatherings like marriages, religious events and social functions be restricted as per the guidelines of the government.

Mahajan also emphasised detailed assessment of healthcare facilities to effectively combat the second wave. She asked the officials to quickly undertake an analysis of positivity rate in towns, where elections were held recently, to assess the impact of crowding at these places. She said as the overall positivity rate in schools was low, there was no need to close them.

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