Coronavirus death toll reaches 18 in Punjab

LAHORE: One more death due to coronavirus was reported in Lahore on Thursday, to bring the casualties in double digit in the provincial capital, while the number of Covid-19 deaths climbed to 18 in the province.

A 73 year old was shifted to Mayo Hospital from Raiwind Markaz on April 1. Besides getting Covid-19 symptoms, he was a diabetes patient. He breathed his last on Thursday.

So far 18 patients have died in the province including 10 in Lahore, four in Rawalpindi and one each in Rahim Yar Khan, Jhelum, Faisalabad and Gujrat. As many as 39 patients have recovered for their ailment.

As many as 58 new Covid-19 patients were reported from across the province on Thursday, taking the number of confirmed cases to 2,224.Out of them, 662 are members of Tablighi Jamaat, 700 pilgrims returning from Iran, 68 prisoners and 794 citizens who either had travel history or fell victim to local transmission.

Of the 662 Tablighi Jamaat members, 455 are at quarantine centre at Raiwind, 35 in Hafizabad, 33 in Bhakkar, 17 in Layyah, 16 in Sargodha, 15 in Rahim Yar Khan, 14 in Vehari, 10 each in Sheikhupura and Jhelum, nine each in Gujrat and Sialkot, eight in Bahawalnagar, seven in Nankana Sahib, six in Rawalpindi, four in Khushab, three in Mandi Bahauddin and one in Rajanpur. As many as 10,263 preachers who have recently attended Tablighi Ijtema are at quarantine centres in 33 districts for testing and isolation.

Out of 700 confirmed patients from amongst pilgrims, 457 are at quarantine centre in Multan, 220 in Dera Ghazi Khan and 23 in Faisalabad. So far 794 citizens have also been tested positive for the virus in 28 districts of the province. The highest number of cases has been reported from Lahore where 363 patients are under treatment at different centres.

As many as 98 patients are under treatment in Gujrat, 64 in Rawalpindi, 42 in Gujranwala, 30 in Jhelum, 29 in Sialkot, 21 in Faisalabad, 18 in DG Khan, 15 in Mandi Bahauddin, 13 each in Nankana Sahib and Vehari, 11 in Hafizabad, 10 in Mianwali, nine each in Sargodha, Kasur and Bahawalnagar, eight each in Narowal and Chiniot, four in Multan, three each in Rahim Yar Khan, Toba Tek Singh and Lodhran and one each in Sheikhupura, Attock, Layyah, Okara and Khushab. The spokesperson for Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) Department said that so far a total of 30,412 suspected patients have been tested for the coronavirus. Out of them, he said, 2,224 were tested positive.