LAHORE: Showing a slight respite, Covid-19 claimed the lives of 29 critical patients in Punjab during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of victims in the province to 4,948.

The total number of confirmed cases of the virus reached 161,757 after 410 more tested positive in the last 24 hours.

According to official figures released on Wednesday, health teams performed 11,279 Covid-19 tests during the last 24 hours in Punjab. As many as 722 infected people were said to have recovered during the same period.

The health authorities claimed that the number of new cases continued to decrease in Punjab with every passing day. They said the number of new cases and deaths from the virus in January was way less than those reported in December 2020. Most of the deaths and new cases appeared in the major cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Faisalabad.

On Wednesday, most of the new cases -- 235 -- were recorded in Lahore where the total number of positive cases reached 1,964. The other cases were reported from Jhelum, Mianwali, Mandi Bahauddin, Khanewal, Nankana Sahib, Hafizabad, Lodhran, Jhang, Bahawalnagar, Khushab, Layyah, Sheikhupura, Narowal, Gujrat, Kasur, Okara, Bhakkar, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Sialkot, Chiniot, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Muzaffargarh.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2021