On a day when Punjab government announced a four-hour relaxation in curfew, the state on Wednesday saw the steepest rise in coronavirus cases with 33 more persons contacting infection, taking the total count to COVID-19 case in the state to 375.
A total of 19 persons have lost their lives till date to coronavirus infection in the state while 104 have been cured of it, the state's daily heath bulletin revealed on Wednesday.
Among fresh cases, bulk of them were pilgrims who recently returned from Hazur Sahib in Nanded in Maharashtra and some students who came back from Kota in Rajasthan, officials said.
Eleven cases were reported in Ludhiana, followed by eight in Mohali, three each in Hoshiarpur and Faridkot, two each in SBS Nagar, Patiala and Bathinda and one each in Jalandhar and Sangrur, as per the medical bulletin.
In Ludhiana, seven were Nanded pilgrims and four were Kota students who tested positive for coronavirus, said a health official.
Seven belong to pilgrims of Takhat Sri Nanded Sahib and four Kota students. All are asymptomatic, said Ludhiana civil surgeon Rajesh Bagga.
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Out of eight cases in Mohali, five were sikh pilgrims. Pilgrims reported positive include those from Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Patiala, Sangrur and Bathinda as well.
Bathinda reported coronavirus patients for the first time.
Around 4,000 pilgrims from Punjab, who had gone to pay obeisance at the Gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Nanded, were stuck there because of the coronavirus lockdown. Now, they are being brought to Punjab after the intervention of the Union Home Ministry.
Besides, 3,000 migrant workers from Jaisalmer and 152 students from Kota in Rajasthan were also being brought to the state.
In the past one week, the number of total cases rose from 257 on April 22 to 375 on April 29.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced a four- hour relaxation in curfew everyday from Thursday, besides extending curfew-cum-lockdown for another two weeks.
Jalandhar district had the maximum number of COVID-19 cases in the state with 86 followed by seventy three in Mohali, as per the bulletin.
Of 375 cases, 63 were reported in Patiala so far, 29 in Ludhiana, 25 in Pathankot, 22 in SBS Nagar, 14 in Amritsar, 13 in Mansa, 11 in Hoshiarpur, seven in Tarn Taran, six each in Kapurthala and Faridkot, four each in Moga and Sangrur, three in Rupnagar, two each in Fatehgarh Sahib, Bathinda and Barnala, and one each in Muktsar, Gurdsapur and Ferozepur.
Of the total cases, 19 have died while 104 patients have fully cured of the infection, as per the bulletin.
A total of 18,670 samples have been taken so far in the state, of which 15,690 samples were found negative and reports of 2,605 others are still awaited.
There are 252 active cases in the state, as per bulletin.