Chandigarh, Jan 6

 Five more coronavirus-related fatalities were reported in Punjab, while 2,427 fresh cases took the infection tally to 6,11,102 on Thursday, according to a medical bulletin.

Punjab has been witnessing a surge in the number of infections for the past several days.

The state had recorded 1,811 infections on Wednesday.

The positivity rate rose from 7.95 per cent on Wednesday to 10.20 per cent on Thursday.

The new fatalities raised the death toll from the pandemic to 16,662 in the state.

The number of active cases climbed to 6,687 from 4,434 a day before.

Patiala continued to remain the worst affected district in terms of rising cases as it recorded 687 fresh infections.

Mohali, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Pathankot reported 364, 294, 292 and 187 cases respectively.

A total of 121 people recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have recovered to 5,87,753, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Chandigarh reported 331 COVID-19 cases, taking the infection count to 66,824.

The toll stood at 1,080 while the positivity rate was 14.40 per cent.

The number of active cases in the city rose to 979 while the number of recoveries was 64,765.