13 succumb to Covid-19, 498 new cases

LAHORE:Thirteen Covid-19 patients died and another 498 new infections were confirmed in Punjab during the last 24 hours, according to report issued by Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) Department on Monday.

The toll of fatalities was raised to 2,861 in Punjab, while confirmed cases of coronavirus reached 114,508 in the province. Out of a total of 114,508 infections in Punjab, as many as 111,728 citizens contracted the virus through local transmission. The remaining 2,780 COVID19 infections were confirmed among members of Tableeghi Jamaat, Zaireen returning from Iran and prisoners. As per the spokesperson of Corona Monitoring Room at Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, as many as 12,607 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours, which raised the total number of tests to 1,862,260 in the province.

After 2,861 fatalities and recovery of a total of 98,019 patients, as many as 13,628 active cases still remain, who are either isolated at homes or under treatment at different quarantine centres and health facilities.

IPH entrance test: Entrance test for admission in BSc (Hons) Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) course was held at the Institute of Public Health (IPH) here on Monday. A total number of 164 candidates (male & female) appeared in the test which was arranged in an open lawn according to the COVID SOPs. In a press statement, IPH Dean Prof Dr. Zarfishan Tahir said BSc (Hons) MLT course was stopped in 2013 but due to personal efforts of Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, it was again started last year, 2019 and the entrance test held on Nov 23, 2020 is for the admissions of the Second Batch of this course.

Dr Zarfishan Tahir said BSc (Hons) MLT course is consisting of 4 years and there are 20 seats available for this. She said 211 candidates applied for the admission out of which 208 were declared eligible for the test, however, 164 candidates appeared in the entrance test. She said the list of passed candidates would be displayed in the institute as well as on the Website of IPH on 28.11.2020 while interviews for the selection of 20 lucky candidates out of passed students would be held on Nov.30.

She said admissions would be made purely on merit according to the government policy. By starting BSc (Hons) in MLT course, highly qualified and trained humans resource would be available for laboratories in coming future, she added.