The ventilator occupancy rate reached a worrying level on Tuesday in the Punjab’s government-run hospitals after as many as 181 critical Covid-19 patients were shifted to these facilities during the last 24 hours.

The sudden influx of critical patients of the infection in the state-run hospitals of the province has alarmed their respective managements who fear that they may run short of the life-saving machines soon if the trend continues.

Punjab has already been registering a persistent and sharp increase in the bed occupancy ratio at the intensive care units (ICUs) of the public hospitals, especially in Lahore that continues to be a coronavirus hotspot in the province.

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