LAHORE: With 77 more fatalities including 27 in Lahore and 19 in Gujranwala during the last 24 hours, the provincial tally of death toll has reached 9640.
Out of 15,949 Covid-19 tests conducted during the last 24 hours, 1189 fresh virus cases were reported across the province with positivity rate of 07.45% from previous 07.08% taking the provincial tally of cases to 331,102.
With the recovery of 2367 more virus patients, the number of recovered patients in the province has reached 293,228. On the other hand, 4,171 coronavirus recoveries were reported across the country during the last 24 hours taking the tally of total recoveries to 804,122 with recovery rate of 90.03 percent.
In Lahore, 483 fresh Covid-19 cases and 27 deaths were reported during the last 24 hours. In the provincial metropolis and rest of the province, corona vaccination drive is underway at fast pace. The Punjab Chief Secretary inaugurated a vaccination centre at Punjab Civil Secretariat for vaccination of employees.
Meanwhile, 943 ventilators have been reserved for corona patients and 422 patients have been put on ventilators. About 864987 doses are available in Punjab and a ban is imposed on business activities after 8:00 PM.
As per break-up of corona cases and deaths in major cities of the province, Lahore has so far reported 172489 cases and 3943 deaths, Rawalpindi 25101 cases and 1422 deaths, Faisalabad 20564 cases and 1012 deaths, Multan 16638 cases and 715 deaths, D G Khan 3262 cases and 96 deaths, Bahawalpur 7691 cases and 227 deaths, Gujranwala 8013 cases and 375 deaths, Gujrat 6888 cases and 109 deaths, Rahim Yar Khan 5457 cases and 205 deaths, Sargodha 8030 cases and 244 deaths, Sheikhupura 3588 cases and 102 deaths and Sialkot reported 6877 cases and 223 deaths.
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar on Thursday chaired the provincial apex committee meeting during which it was informed that the health department will recruit 4452 paramedics and vaccinators for corona drive while 10 oxygen generators and 200 oxygen concentrators are being provided to ensure the supply of oxygen in the province.
It was resolved in the meeting to utilize resources for dealing with the third corona wave and the military leadership assured to continue all out cooperation with the civil government to contain the spread of corona. The apex committee decided to use all administrative actions to enforce the SOPs. It was decided that airports will remain super alert, upon arrival of international flights, and effective steps will be taken to ensure the identification of corona-positive international passengers. It was decided to increase the number of corona vaccination centres along with expediting the vaccination drive.
The meeting decided to effectively implement the closure timing of markets and bazaars through administrative measures and it was planned to devise a separate policy for overcoming the spread of coronavirus in Lahore.
The CM told the participants of the meeting that Corona vaccine was being procured with Rs1.5 billion through an accelerated process. More vaccine doses will also be procured as the Punjab government is fully active to save the citizens from this virus, he added. The ratio of corona positive cases in May is 19 percent while the ratio of the positive cases in 26 districts is 8 percent or above, he added.
Corps Commander Lahore Lt Gen Muhammad Abdul Aziz said the provincial government’s work is praiseworthy. It is a nationwide challenge every possible assistance is extended to the civil administration, he added. The joint efforts will be made further effective because the lives of the people are important, he said.
Moreover, Dean Institute of Public Health (IPH), Prof Dr Zarfishan Tahir said that mass vaccination is the only effective weapon to control Covid-19 pandemic and people should not focus on negative propaganda against corona vaccine and must take benefit from free vaccination facilities provided by the government to protect themselves from Corona virus infection.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021