Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Amritsar as nearly 525 people were tested positive for the virus while 14 patients died in the last 10 days in the district, among the worst-hit in Punjab.

In July alone, the district recorded 902 cases of infection, nearly 48% of its total cases, and 35 deaths. The tally rose suddenly after mid-July. In the past four days only, 285 cases were reported along with 10 fatalities. To date, the district has had a total of 1,859 positive patients of which 78 died and 1,321 recovered.

“The district had only one Covid case in March, 89 cases in April, 302 in May and 565 in June. Initially, an average 10-15 cases were being reported daily but now we are recording over 70 cases,” said Amritsar’s assistant civil surgeon, Dr Amarjit Singh.

In June, the district health department tested nearly 24,000 people of whom 565 tested positive, with a positivity rate of 2.8%.

The positivity rate increased in July by 0.8% as out of 24,902 samples tested, 902 were found positive.

Dr Amarjit Singh added, “Increasing positivity rate is a matter of concern but most of the cases being reported these days are the close contacts of those infected earlier. Also, the district has ramped up the daily testing, which is showing more cases. We are testing over 1,000 people daily at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Amritsar. We are also focusing on tracing the close contacts of the patient.”