80% of cases in Punjab due to UK variant of COVID-19: Harsh Vardhan

Coronavirus Punjab: While coronavirus cases have been rising, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that 80 percent of cases in Punjab were the UK variant of COVID-19. Even as he blamed farmers' protest as the reason behind the surge of coronavirus. Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that this has been confirmed by genome sequencing that percent of coronavirus cases in Punjab were of the UK variant. Also Read | CBSE Board Exams 2021: Students request govt to cancel exams due to rising COVID-19 cases "The increase in coronavirus cases is event-driven like large weddings, local body elections, farmers' protest, etc could have a role in it," he said. Punjab on Tuesday evening reported 2,924 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2,350 discharges, and 62 deaths. Also Read | Petrol, diesel more expensive as Punjab government imposes another cess With this, the total number of cases has increased to 2,57,057 while the total cured cases have gone up to 2,23,928, active cases to 25,913 and the death toll has reached 7,216. Furthermore, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with all the Chief Ministers to review and discuss the COVID-19 situation on April 8. "11 states that include Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat constitute for 80 percent of COVID- cases. We had a discussion with health ministers of these states on strategies used last year," he said. Click here to follow PTC News on Twitter -PTC News

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