Six-month-old dies, Punjab death toll now 17; COVID tally 283

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Chandigarh, Apr 23 () A six-month-old child succumbed to COVID-19 here on Thursday, pushing Punjab's death toll to 17 as the state reported 26 new coronavirus cases. Its tally of people infected by the virus is now 283.

This was the first death of an infant due to coronavirus in the state.

The girl from Phagwara died at Chandigarh's Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), where she was admitted for corrective heart surgery.

She was suffering from congenital heart disease and was on ventilator support. She tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.

A PGI spokesperson said the child died at 12.47 pm.

She was first treated in Phagwara and then at a Ludhiana hospital, from where she was referred to the PGIMER, officials said.

The child was admitted to PGI's Advanced Paediatric Centre on April 9, but was later shifted to its COVID facility at Nehru Hospital Extension.

The funeral took place in Chandigarh.

Fifty-four doctors and health workers who were exposed to the infant while treating her have tested negative for the virus, officials said.

Out of the 26 new infections reported on Thursday, 18 are from Patiala, six from Jalandhar and two from Amritsar, according to a medical bulletin.

Mohali accounts for 62 of the total 283 cases, followed by Jalandhar which has reported 59 cases so far.

Forty-nine cases have surfaced in Patiala, 24 in Pathankot, 19 in Nawanshahr, 16 in Ludhiana, 13 in Amritsar, 11 in Mansa, seven in Hoshiarpur, four in Moga, three each in Rupnagar, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Faridkot, two each in Fatehgarh Sahib and Barnala, and one each in Muktsar, Gurdsapur and Ferozepur.

One patient is on ventilator support and in a critical condition, the bulletin said.

Seventeen of the 283 infected people have died and 66 discharged from hospital so far. The state has 200 active COVID-19 cases.

Altogether, 8,757 samples have been taken so far in the state and of which. Of them, 7,433 tested negative and reports of 1,041 samples are still awaited. CHS VSD RKD ASHASH