DW BUREAU / chandigarh Haryana reported three more deaths due to COVID-19 on Thursday as 696 fresh cases took the state's infection tally past the 24,000-mark, according to the state health department's daily bulletin. Two fatalities were reported from Panipat and one from Jhajjar. The total COVID-19 deaths in the state rose to 322 while the number of cases increased to 24,002, it said. The state had recorded its highest single-day spike of 699 cases on July 14. The 696 cases on Thursday made it the second highest one-day spike. The state had on July 8 recorded 691 COVID-19 cases. The districts that reported fresh cases included Faridabad (170), Gurgaon (142), Rewari (84), Sonipat (59), Ambala (45), Panipat (36) and Panchkula (18) among others. Active cases in the state currently are 5,495 while 18,185 have been discharged after recovery. The state's recovery rate on Thursday was 75.76 per cent while the rate of doubling of infections was 22 days, it said. Meanwhile, Haryana Government has issued guidelines for protection and safety of Persons With Disabilities (Divyangjan) to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. It has been decided that the State Government employees working on regular basis/ contract/ daily wages who are unable to walk having physical disabilities of 50 pc or above and also those who are blind from both eyes may be allowed to work from home. Giving information about the same, an official spokesperson said that such employees with disabilities should be allowed to work from home as far as necessary, otherwise they may be exempted to attend office. This period will be treated as duty for all intents and purposes. (editor@dailyworld.in)