DW BUREAU / Mohali To ensure quick emergency services for COVID-19 patients, 77 new ambulances will be pressed into operation, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on Friday. Flagging off 15 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances from here, Sidhu said the state government has given a nod to procurement of 100 more ambulances to fulfil their shortage in government hospitals. He said that in the first phase, order for 77 ambulances has been placed; out of which 17 Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances have already been given to districts. "Today, the delivery of the 60 BLS ambulances has commenced with the first lot of 15 ambulances. The remaining will be made available by the end of August," he said. "These ambulances are proving to be one of the main pillars of fighting the pandemic by significantly reducing the time required for transit of critical patients to health facilities," he said. The health minister said the addition of these ambulances will give a boost to the efforts of fighting the pandemic at a time when Punjab is seeing a rise in numbers of coronavirus patients. According to an official statement, at present there are 19 ALS and 223 BLS ambulances already operational in the state which have been deputed at strategic places and are connected with '108' Emergency Response System (ERS). (editor@dailyworld.in)