Chandigarh: In the steepest spike recorded in the state in 24 hours, Punjab on Sunday recorded 331 new coronavirus cases, with the total climbing to 1,102, a health bulletin said.
Of the 331 cases, 326 were returnees from the famous Sikh shrine in Maharashtra's Nanded, who came back last week after remaining stuck for nearly a month.
In the past five days, Punjab recorded 728 cases -- a majority of them Nanded returnees.
Amritsar district recorded the highest corona cases for the second day in a row. It recorded 75 new cases, with the total patients now reaching 218.
Six districts -- Amritsar, SBS Nagar (62), Hoshiarpur (46), Muktsar (43), Bathinda (33) and Gurdaspur (24) ---accounted for 85 per cent of the new cases.
With the demise of two more patients, the state's death toll rose to 21.
Meanwhile, Punjab has received the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) nod for the clinical trial of convalascent plasma therapy on Covid-19 patients, according to officials here on Sunday. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had allowed use of this therapy when Assistant Commissioner of Police Anil Kohli got coronavirus infection and was admitted to SPS Hospital in Ludhiana. The state government had provided all support and former PGIMER Director K.K. Talwar had organised the professional guidance, but Kohli's condition deteriorated before the therapy could be tried out. The matter was, however, pursued and a proposal was sent to the ICMR for formal approval, a government spokesperson told IANS. As the ICMR had given its nod, the trial was expected to start shortly, said Additional Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan.
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