DW BUREAU / chandigarh The novel coronavirus toll in Punjab rose to 1,618 on Wednesday with a record 106 more deaths, while 1,514 fresh cases took the tally to 56,989, the Health Department said. There are 15,629 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 39,742 people have recovered so far, with 1,595 more patients recuperating from the pathogen, according to a medical bulletin. Ludhiana registered the highest number of 242 COVID-19 cases, followed by 171 in Jalandhar, 163 in Bathinda, 160 in Patiala, 112 in Mohali, 99 in Amritsar and 64 in Faridkot. The total number of infections rose to 56,989, including 1,618 deaths, it said. Eighteen out of the 106 more fatalities were in Ludhiana, eleven in Jalandhar, 10 in Bathinda, nine in Mohali, and eight each in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, the bulletin stated. Seven more people succumbed to the infection in Sangrur, followed by six in Patiala, and five each in Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and Kapurthala, the department said. Three persons each died from the virus in Fatehgarh Sahib and Fazilka, two each in Sangrur, Tarn Taran and Faridkot, and one each in Muktsar and SBS Nagar districts, it said. Seventy-one critical patients are on ventilator support, while 440 on oxygen support, the bulletin said. The state had earlier reported a maximum single-day deaths of 56 on Tuesday. As many as 20,241 more samples was taken, taking the total number of tests conducted to 11.02 lakh, it added. (editor@dailyworld.in)