DW BUREAU / CHANDIGARH Punjab's COVID-19 caseload surged to 5,52,235 on Wednesday as 4,124 more people tested positive for the disease while the death toll climbed to 13,827 with 186 more fatalities, according to a medical bulletin. Of the latest deaths, 20 each were reported from Ludhiana and Patiala, 15 from Sangrur and 14 each from Amritsar, Bathinda and Fazilka, the bulletin stated. Ludhiana reported the highest number of fresh cases at 438, followed by 385 in Bathinda, 337 in Jalandhar and 318 in Mansa, it said. The number of active cases dropped to 50,549 from 53,127 on Tuesday. The state's positivity rate stands at 5.44 per cent, the bulletin said. There are 354 critical patients who are on ventilator support, 942 other critical patients and 6,007 patients on oxygen support, it said. As many as 6,397 COVID-19 patients recovered in a day. With this, the number of cured persons increased to 4,87,859, it added. So far, 89,25,740 samples have been collected for testing in the state, the bulletin said. Meanwhile, Chandigarh recorded 224 fresh COVID-19 cases that took the union territory's infection tally to 59,216 while eight more fatalities pushed the death toll to 722, according to a medical bulletin. The number of active cases dropped to 3,573 from 4,063 on Tuesday, the bulletin said. The total number of cured persons in Chandigarh reached 54,921 as 706 more coronavirus patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, it said. So far, 4,93,948 samples have been taken for testing. Of these, 4,33,534 have tested negative while reports of 43 are awaited, it said. (editor@dailyworld.in)