DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The COVID-19 infection tally in Punjab climbed to 1,84,310 with 778 new cases reported on Wednesday while 12 more deaths pushed the toll to 5,872, according to a medical bulletin. Punjab has been seeing an upswing in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases for the past three weeks. The number of active cases also jumped from 5,198 on Tuesday to 5,593 as of now. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar reported the maximum of 108 cases followed by Jalandhar with 96, Patiala with 80, among new cases that surfaced in the state. A total of 365 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from infection, taking the number of cured persons to 1,72,845, as per the bulletin. There are 14 critical patients who are on ventilator support while 99 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said. A total of 50,69,381 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state, it said. In neighbouring Haryana, the state recorded 240 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 2,71,365, a health department bulletin said. With no coronavirus related fatality during the past 24 hours, the total COVID-19 deaths in the state remained at 3,052, according to the bulletin. Fresh cases were reported from districts including Gurugram and Karnal, with 44 infections each. The number of active cases in the state were 1,470. The recovery rate was 98.33 percent, it stated. Meanwhile, the Union territory of Chandigarh on Wednesday reported 56 more coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 21,962, a medical bulletin stated. The death of a 79-year-old woman took the toll in the UT to 355, as per the bulletin. The number of active cases rose from 472 on Tuesday to 503 as of now, as per the bulletin. A total of 24 patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, taking the number of cured persons to 21,104, as per the bulletin. A total of 2,59,793 samples have been taken for testing so far and 2,36,870 of them tested negative while reports of 108 samples were still awaited, the bulletin stated. (editor@dailyworld.in)