27-yr-old in police custody, 18 others test positive in Punjab

Also among the infected is an Amritsar-based doctor who returned from Afghanistan three days ago

Nineteen more persons, including a 27-year-old youth arrested on charges of attempt to murder and an Afghanistan-returned doctor, tested positive for the coronavirus in Punjab on Sunday, taking the state’s tally of those infected by the disease so far to 2,154.

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The doctor and the 27-year-old accused were among five persons found infected in Amritsar. “The doctor, a resident of Majitha Road in Amritsar, reached the city three days ago and was quarantined in a local hotel,” civil surgeon Dr Jugal Kishore said.

“The 27-year-old was arrested on May 22 and his swab samples were taken the next day. We are identifying the police personnel who came in contact with him. The cops will be home-quarantined and their samples will be taken. We have requested the health department to conduct his repeat test,” said police commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill.

Three others tested positive are a 40-year-old man from Rani Ka Bagh, a woman who had returned to the city from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and is a close contact of a Covid-19 patient. The total number of cases in the district has reached 327, including 6 deaths.

Seven fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in Pathankot district on Sunday. A resident of Lamini, who had gone to his in-laws’ house in Amritsar, was taken to hospital after he had flu-like symptoms. He is under treatment in Amritsar.

Six family members of a fast-food corner owner found infected on Friday also tested positive.

The district has reported 39 cases, including two deaths.

FOUR MORE INFECTED IN HOSHIARPUR DIST

In Hoshiarpur, four more contacts of a Jalalpur resident, who recently died due to Covid-19 in a Jalandhar hospital, tested positive for the virus. One of them is an 81-year-old woman. Five contacts of the deceased had tested positive three days ago. At present, there are 14 active cases in the district.

Also, Gurdaspur district reported two fresh cases. The patients, aged 31 and 34, are residents of Batala. Both worked in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and returned home five days ago. The health department is taking samples of their family members and those others who came in their contact during their stay in Batala. A total of 135 cases, including 10 active, have been reported in the district.

Besides, a 25-year-old truck driver of Machiwada village in Ferozepur district was tested positive for the disease on Sunday. His sample was taken in Jammu on May 18 and his location was traced to Gujarat’s Vadodara district.

The Ferozepur administration officials informed their counterparts in Vadodara who isolated the 25-year-old in a local hospital. The youth visited his village on May 19.

MANSA HAS NO ACTIVE CASES

There is no active Covid-19 case in Mansa district as two patients were discharged from the civil hospital on Sunday. Civil surgeon Dr Lal Chand Thakral said 33 persons have been found positive in the district so far.

(Inputs from Ferozepur, Bathinda, Gurdaspur)