Chandigarh, Mar 14 (IANS): Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Sunday reviewed the emergency measures to tackle the peak in Covid-19 cases and expressed concern over the third peak with 1,515 positive cases reported.

She asked district officers to spruce up necessary arrangements to tackle the spike in cases, while asking all districts to step up the testing of the contacts to break the chain of transmission.

Mahajan said the state witnessed first peak in September last year as it touched 2,896 cases per day followed by a second peak in November with 843 cases per day.

Directing Covid-19 vaccinations be carried out at all designated hospitals on all seven days, she also asked the Deputy Commissioners and the Civil Surgeons to advise the private hospitals to increase their Covid bed capacity.

The Chief Secretary said the labs must maintain the testing of around 28,000 to 30,000 samples per day.

K.K. Talwar, Adviser Health and Medical Education, said the beneficiaries may test Covid positive even after inoculation of second dose, because the Covid vaccine creates the desired level of protection only after two weeks of the second dose.

He said that even if any beneficiary gets positive after more than two weeks of the second dose, the severity of the infection will be milder and the beneficiary may not need hospitalisation.

Apprising the Chief Secretary regarding the status of Covid vaccination, Principal Secretary, Health, Hussan Lal said nearly 50 per cent healthcare and frontline workers have been inoculated with first dose, while the second dose is also being given to these beneficiaries upon the completion of the stipulated period.