Punjab reports 48 more deaths, 2,705  COVID-19 cases

LAHORE: Punjab province recorded 2,705 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, raising the provincial virus tally to 50,087.

According to statistics provided by the provincial health department, 48 more people lost their lives in the province while battling COVID-19. The total number of patients who succumbed to the COVID-19 has reached 938 in the province.

The province has so far performed 338,714 virus tests. The number of recoveries in the province stands at 17,560.

Earlier, the Punjab government and health experts had decided to contact the Centre for tightening lockdown steps in Lahore to limit the spread of the COVID-19.

According to a handout issued by the Punjab CM’s Office, the decision had taken during a meeting presided over by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Friday.

The statement said it was decided that recommendations will be sent to the federal government in order to impose stricter restrictions, adding that a separate strategy will be implemented in Lahore after approval from the federal government.

On this occasion, it was stated that the situation in Punjab was critical due to the public flouting standard operating procedures (SOPs) while the number of cases surged.

The statement added more than half of the coronavirus cases in Punjab are from Lahore and SOPs violations are being seen in markets and commercial areas.

The meeting was also told that the National Disaster Management Authority will establish a hospital in Punjab with 300 high dependency unit (HDU) beds. The provincial government will also provide 300 HDU beds to different hospitals across the province, the statement read.