Haryana reports 6 more COVID-19 deaths; total cases rise to 6,334

Haryana reported six more coronavirus deaths on Friday, taking the total number of fatalities to 70 as total infection cases in the state rose to 6,334. The state reported 366 fresh cases, 185 of which, were from the worst-hit Gurgaon district.

A day after Haryana reported 12 coronavirus deaths, six more fatalities were reported-four from Faridabad, one from Sonipat and first death from Palwal district--as per state health department's daily bulletin.

Faridabad district, which is also the worst-hit district in the National Capital Region, has so far recorded 26 coronavirus-related deaths while Sonipat has seen six deaths.

The state had reported 11 coronavirus deaths on Monday. Haryana's Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajiv Arora had on Thursday said most of those who died had comorbidities.

Gurgaon now has a total of 2,922 cases, 1,869 of which are active. The district, which lies adjacent to Delhi, has so far reported 19 fatalities.

Among other districts from where COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday were 57 from Faridabad, 31 from Sonipat, three each from Jhajjar and Kurukshetra, five from Nuh, 28 each from Ambala and Palwal, two each from Panipat and Fatehabad, one each from Jind and Charkhi Dadri, five from Yamunanagar, 11 from Kaithal and four from Hisar district.

The total active COVID-19 patients in the state are 3,789 while 2,475 patients have recovered, according to the bulletin. The COVID-19 positivity rate is 3.92 per cent in the northern state.

During the past 24 hours, 215 patients have recovered and discharged. Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora said the state is fully prepared to deal with any situation arising due to the coronavirus pandemic. Proactive strategies are made to effectively combat the spread of the infections, he said while presiding over a meeting of 'Crisis Coordination Committee' via video conferencing on Friday. Deputy commissioners and nodal officers appointed for COVID-19 management were also a part of the meeting, an official statement said.

Keshni directed them to further ramp up COVID-19 management preparations coupled with aggressive surveillance, stringent containment, swift contact tracing and focused clinical management along with proactive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities.

She said the capacity of hospital beds, adequate availability of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and fatality management should also be done on a priority basis. The official also noted that the need of the hour was to train final year MBBS, paramedic and nursing students to tackle any alarming situation.

The chief secretary directed the deputy commissioners to meticulously carry out the surveillance for Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) or Influenza-like illnesses (ILI) to detect any possible hidden infections at an early stage to ensure timely containment.

“Deputy commissioners have to ensure to gear up the strategies of COVID-19 management in Haryana by primarily emphasising on disease surveillance and then on treatment. Intensive IEC activities along with swift feedback mechanisms have to be developed through unit teams to identify high-risk cases," she added.

(Photo Credit: PTI)