LAHORE: Punjab has reported 601 coronavirus fresh cases and 17 deaths during the last 24 hours taking the provincial tally of cases to 108,822 and fertilities to 2455 amid concerns expressed by health professionals. This is the highest death toll recorded in the province since July this year. During the last 24 hours, 12,038 tests were conducted while with recovery of 12 more people and the total number of recovered patients has reached 97,692.
As per data made available to Business Recorder, the people belonging to the 31-45 age group are more vulnerable to the Covid-19 infection, followed by 16-30 age group and 46-60 age group. Out of total 108,822 Covid-19 cases in Punjab, 32345 are of age of 31-45 years, 30106 of age group of 16-30 years, 22356 of age group of 46-60 years, 11107 of age group of 61-75 years, 5166 of age group of 1-15 years and 2027 are of age group of over 75 years.
When asked about high ratio of infection among young population, health professionals said one of the reasons given for more occurrence of the virus in younger generations is that the people of these two age groups get infected more due to outdoor activities/movement.
However, an official of the health department said that the young people mostly interact with the people at their workplaces or educational institutions without preventive measures.
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar said that citizens will have to adopt complete precautionary measures to protect themselves from the Covid 19. He said: "Number of corona affectees and death toll are increasing day by day; citizens should make wearing face mask habit. We have to learn to survive with coronavirus," he said. The chief minister said that government has taken every possible measure for safeguarding the lives of the citizens.
Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said that the Coronavirus is increasing in Pakistan with each passing day. In these circumstances, there is no option but to implement Corona SOPs as any negligence by the public regarding SOPs can be very dangerous.
As per study of health department, the health professionals attending the Covid-19 patients in health facilities are most vulnerable to the coronavirus due to their exposure to it. The study shows 23pc positive cases ratio among the health professionals attending the Covid-19 patients in hospitals, the highest ratio so far among any community in Punjab.
As per data, Lahore has reported 54,247, the highest number of confirmed cases among the 10 districts. It is followed by Rawalpindi with 9,189 cases, Multan 7,123, Faisalabad 6,351, Gujranwala 4,079, Gujrat 3,200, Sialkot 2,652, Bahawalpur 2,244, DG Khan 1,864 and Sargodha 1,570 with positive cases.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020