chandigarh terming the allegations of former union minister harsimrat kaur badal as baseless and political motivated punjab health minister balbir singh sidhu said that sad had lost credibility and support of the people of punjab sidhu accused her of trying to malign the image and confidence of medical fraternity for publicity the minister said the state government was working on advisories issued by central government and corrective steps as required were being taken he said the feedback had been found to be useful and will help the state manage the covid surge in the statecountering harsimrats allegation sidhu said contact tracing in mohali was highest in state and 105 target of covid testing achieved in patiala as she alleged it was much lowest than set target he said contact tracing in ludhiana is 13 per case patiala 14 and 23 in mohali which is highest in state contact tracing is being further enhanced by involving personnel from other departments he saidresponding to the status of labs in state he said rtpcr labs are not required in every district districts have been attached to seven rtpcr testing labs with no district more than one to oneandhalfhour drive from the lab he said testing had ranged from 35000 to 40000 tests per day which will be increased to 50000 this week he said in addition to this all district hopitals had been provided with truenat rtpcr machines for quick testing and results weree available in one to two hourspointing out level iii care facilities made by the state government he said not all districts required dedicated covid hospitals districts have been attached to nearest level 3 facility and for transfer of patients on time adequate als and bls ambulances are available in all districts as acknowledged by central teams he addedsidhu said the state had added more than 6000 health care workers including medical officers specialists medical officers paramedical staff etc in the last one year to augment healthcare workforce specialist medical doctors are recruited through walkininterviews regularly and 50 specialists of various disciplines have been issued appointment letters last week only he addedhe added the state had more than 400 level i beds available in the government sector and 8000 beds in private sector bed occupancy at level iv is only 25 he said there is sufficient capacity available at level ii and iii beds are also available for covid patients in government and private hospitals have also been advised to make more beds available in case the number of covid patients increases