DW BUREAU / cHANDIGARH The total number of COVID-19 cases in Punjab climbed to 6,907 on Wednesday with 158 fresh infections and the toll rose to 178 as three more people succumbed to the disease, according to a medical bulletin. The deaths were reported from Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur districts, the bulletin stated. Jalandhar reported the highest number of fresh cases at 72, followed by 17 in Faridkot, 12 in Ludhiana and 11 in Amritsar. Ferozepur and Gurdaspur reported nine cases each; Mohali six; Sangrur and Bathinda five each; Patiala four; Kapurthala three; Pathankot and Mansa two each; and Rupnagar one.Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Jagraon in Ludhiana was among the fresh cases. ADC, Jagraon tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, an official spokesperson said. On Tuesday, two Provincial Civil Service (PCS) officers -- additional deputy commissioner (General) and sub-divisional magistrate (Khanna) in Ludhiana had tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 274 coronavirus patients were discharged from various hospitals on Wednesday after they recovered from the infection. A total of 4,828 people have been cured of the infection so far, according to the bulletin. There are 1,901 active cases in the state as of now, the bulletin stated. Ludhiana tops the COVID-19 tally with 1,194 cases, followed by 1,016 in Jalandhar, 987 in Amritsar, 593 in Sangrur, 444 in Patiala, 325 in Mohali, 271 in Gurdaspur, 238 in Pathankot, 208 in Tarn Taran and 187 in Hoshiarpur.SBS Nagar has 175 cases, Faridkot 146, Muktsar 140, Moga 134, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ferozepur 131 each, Bathinda 122, Kapurthala 121, Rupnagar 118, Fazilka 102, Barnala 71 and Mansa 53. Six patients are critical and on ventilator support, while 57 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said. A total of 3,60,189 samples have been taken so far for testing, it said. India's coronavirus caseload increased to 7,42,417 on Wednesday with a single day rise of 22,752 COVID-19 cases, even as the recovery rate further improved to over 61.5 per cent, according to Union Health Ministry data. The death toll climbed to 20,642 with 482 people succumbing to the disease, the updated data at 8 am showed. The number of recoveries stands at 4,56,830, while there are 2,64,944 active cases of the coronavirus infection currently in the country. The rate of recovery among COVID-19 patients continues to increase and touched 61.53 per cent on Wednesday, the ministry said. During the last 24 hours, a total of 16,883 COVID-19 patients have been cured, it said. Growing healthcare infrastructure of various types of COVID facilities, adequately supported by ICU and oxygen supported beds, ventilators and other equipment, has facilitated and ensured timely detection and effective clinical management of COVID-19 positive cases, the ministry said. With more coronavirus patients recovering, the gap between the number of recovered cases and active cases has increased by 1,91,886 as on date, it said. The ministry said that the number of samples being tested for detection of COVID-19 is substantially growing every day with 2,62,679 samples being tested on Tuesday of which more than 53,000 samples have been tested in private laboratories. The cumulative number of samples tested, as of now, is 1,04,73,771, the ministry said, adding that the tests per million stand at 7,180. This is because of the sharply focussed "test, trace, treat" strategy of the Central government. (editor@dailyworld.in)