DW BUREAU / chandigarh Punjab on Friday recorded its highest single-day spike of 482 COVID-19 cases, including that of 46 BSF personnel, raising the state's tally to 12,216, as per a medical bulletin. Besides, five people died due to COVID-19 in Pathankot, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur and Ludhiana, pushing the death toll to 282, it stated. Punjab continued to record a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases with the state adding 300 to 400 fresh cases daily in the past several days. On Thursday, the state had witnessed the highest single-day jump of 441 cases and on Wednesday, it had seen 414 cases. Of the fresh cases, 76 were reported in Jalandhar, followed by 70 each in Patiala and Hoshiarpur, 55 in Amritsar, 46 in Ludhiana, 23 in Moga, 21 in Fazilka, 19 in Sangrur, 17 in Ferozepur, 12 in Mohali, 10 each in Rupnagar and Gurdaspur, nine each in SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Kapurthala, seven in Mansa, five each in Tarn Taran and Faridkot, four in Bathinda, three in Barnala and two in Muktsar.Forty-three Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Hoshiarpur and three in Fazilka, while 13 policemen in Ludhiana, three in Moga and one in Barnala were among the new cases. A total of 355 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals at several places, including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Sangrur, Hoshiarpur, after recovering from the infection. So far, 8,096 people have recovered from the infection. There are 3,838 active COVID-19 cases in the state till now, according to the bulletin. Ludhiana continued to top the COVID-19 tally with 2,182 cases, followed by 1,908 in Jalandhar, 1,436 in Amritsar, 1,254 in Patiala, 886 in Sangrur, 647 in Mohali , 449 in Hoshiarpur, 347 in Gurdaspur, 304 in Pathankot, 288 in SBS Nagar, 272 in Ferozepur, 264 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 257 each in Tarn Taran and Moga, 248 in Faridkot, 257 in Moga, 242 in Bathinda, 208 in Fazilka, as per the bulletin. Seventeen patients are critical and are on ventilator support while 83 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said. A total of 5,09,267 samples have been taken for testing, it said. The Punjab government has set up several Covid Care Centres (CCCs) in 10 districts with a total capacity of 7,520 beds, augmenting its ability to tackle mild or asymptomatic cases for people under 60 years of age. Similar centres, with 100 beds each, would be set up soon in the remaining 12 districts, an official statement said here on Friday. The new CCCs have already made functional in Mohali with total 1,500 beds ? 1,000-bed capacity centre at Chandigarh University and 500-bed centre at Gian Sagar Hospital -- Ludhiana with 1,200 beds, Jalandhar and Amritsar with 1000 beds each, Bathinda (950), Sangrur (800 beds), Patiala (470), Pathankot (400) and Fazilka and Faridkot (100 each). These centres are running in schools or other institutions to the capacity of over 7,000 beds which can be enhanced to 28,000 beds if the cases surge further, the statement said. They are being managed by district administration and Health Department officials, and are being used to keep positive patients having none of any symptoms, and without any co-morbidity like chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, in isolation. "These centres are equipped with excellent bed infrastructure with adequate sanitation and security facilities and are being monitored by doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital administrators and counsellors round-the-clock. They have all the necessary emergency services such as oxygen, ECG, medical supplies etc," it said. All the patients admitted in these centres are being provided three meals, besides tea twice a day. They are monitored three times a day. To meet any exigency due to deteriorating condition of a patient, elaborate arrangements including a dedicated ambulance are in place in these centres so that patients can be shifted to higher-level centres, if needed, the statement said. India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 COVID-19 cases taking the country's tally to 12,87,945 on Friday, while the recoveries surged to 8,17,208, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The death toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities. (editor@dailyworld.in)