44 new coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh, tally 216

Raipur, May 23 () Chhattisgarh continued to see increase in the number of coronavirus cases on Saturday, with 44 persons, including a woman junior doctor at a government hospital, testing positive, health officials said.

It was the biggest single-day increase in number of cases so far, they added, which took the tally of cases to 216.

On Friday, the state had reported 40 coronavirus patients.

"With the new cases, the tally of positive cases increased to 216 in the state, of which 152 are active. 64 patients have been discharged after recovery," a health official here said.

Ten cases were reported from Rajnandgaon district, nine each from Mungeli and Bilaspur districts, four each from Raigarh and Koriya districts and three each from Surguja and Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi (GPM) districts, he said.

One case each was found in Balodabazar and Jashpur, the official said.

Most of the new patients are migrant labourers who recently returned to their home districts from different parts of the country and were kept in quarantine centres, he said.

"A 35-year-old junior doctor at Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) Bilaspur is also among the new cases," said Dr Aarti Pandey, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of CIMS.

The woman doctor had been deputed in Corona IPD (Inpatient Department) of the institute, the PRO said.

Tribal-dominated Jashpur and GPM districts reported coronavirus cases for the first time.

Two male patients from Balod district were discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur following their recovery.

Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: positive cases-216, new cases-44, deaths-zero, discharged-64, active cases-152, people tested so far-49,763. TKP KRK KRK