700 vaccination centres functional: No let-up in Covid-19 deaths as 57 more fatalities reported across Punjab

LAHORE: There is no let up in Covid-19 deaths, as 57 more fatalities were reported across Punjab during the last 24 hours taking the provincial death toll has reached 10,241.

Out of 57 deaths, 16 were reported from Multan, 12 from Lahore, 9 from Faisalabad, 5 from Sargodha, 3 from Rawalpindi, 2 from Rahim Yar Khan and one each from D G Khan, Muzaffargarh and Mianwali taking the death toll in these cities to 790, 4148, 1096, 274, 1483, 229, 117, 234 and 119, respectively.

Out of 21390 corona tests conducted during the last 24 hours, as many as 399 fresh virus cases were reported across the province taking the provincial tally of cases to 341,789 with overall positivity rate of 1.93%.

There is significant cut in the number of fresh virus cases in the provincial metropolis, as 119 fresh virus cases and 12 deaths were reported during the last 24 hours. There is more focus on vaccination of the people and more dedicated vaccination centres are being opened. Pursuant to the directions of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the Punjab health department is set to open Corona Vaccination Centres (CVCs) from Monday (June 7) in 27 teaching hospitals of the province, to provide swift vaccination facility to the general public. These hospitals are in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Gujrat these vaccination centres will remain open for the general public 24 hours. However, Sunday will be observed as off day for vaccination.

With the recovery of 932 more virus patients, the number of recovered patients in the province reached to 316,166. On the other hand, as many as 4,380 coronavirus recoveries were reported across the country taking the tally of total recoveries to 860,385.

As per break-up of corona cases and deaths in major cities of the province, Lahore has so far reported 176458 cases and 4148 deaths, Rawalpindi 25896 cases and 1483 deaths, Faisalabad 21161 cases and 1096 deaths, Multan 17486 cases and 790 deaths, Bahawalpur 8062 cases and 243 deaths, Gujranwala 8228 cases and 395 deaths, Muzaffargarh 2223 cases and 234 deaths, Mianwali 1747 cases and 119 deaths, Rahim Yar Khan 5939 cases and 229 deaths, Sargodha 8326 cases and 274 deaths, D G Khan 3483 cases and 117 deaths and Sialkot reported 6990 cases and 227 deaths.

Special Assistant Chief Minister Punjab Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan told media that the Punjab government has made functional 700 vaccination centers in the province, to expedite the process of corona vaccination.

Talking to media, here on Saturday she said that task forces have been set up at district and tehsil levels for effective implementation of vaccination strategy. She said that in addition to setting up of new vaccination centers, mobile vaccination teams have also been formed to meet the target set by the NCOC for daily vaccination.

She said that a target has been set for vaccination of 70 million people by the end of this year. She added that eradication of corona pandemic is possible only through vaccination and all resources are being utilized to meet the target set by the NCOC. She urged the people to go to vaccination centres to save them and others from Covid-19.

On the other hand, the Director-General Punjab Emergency Service Dr Rizwan Naseer, while chairing the District Emergency Officers (DEOs) meeting, said the number of Corona emergencies have significantly decreased but ensured that rescuers should deal with corona emergencies as per guidelines issued by Rescue Headquarters. All staff must wear the mask and keep social distance to reduce the spread of corona, he said.

He directed all DEOs to ensure that the first Incident Management mock exercise using all resources shall be conducted within one week by each District at an appropriate site for sectorisation and implementation of the Incident Command Management System.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021