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Punjab’s one-fifth cases from Mohali village alone
Mohali district’s Jawaharpur village, which has emerged as a hotspot of Covid-19 in Punjab, now accounts for as many as 21% cases of the disease in the state, with
Mohali district’s Jawaharpur village, which has emerged as a hotspot of Covid-19 in Punjab, now accounts for as many as 21% cases of the disease in the state, with 10 more persons found infected on Friday.
The number of total cases in the village that falls in Dera Bassi sub-division has reached 32. Now, the district has 48 positive cases, contributing 31% to the state’s tally.
Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said, “Extensive sampling has enabled us to detect more positive cases in the village and isolate them timely. Without testing, containing the village of around 2,500 plus population would not have achieved the desired results”.
Of the 206 samples collected from the village, reports of 12 are awaited.
On Friday, 20 new cases reported in Punjab, yet another day of highest spike in a single day.
Earlier on Wednesday, as many cases were reported. With one more death in Mohali in a 78-year old woman, the total count of Covid-19 casualties in the district rose to 2. The samples of the woman, who died on April 6, came out positive on Friday.
However, the state government’s media bulletin mentioned only one death in the district.
With 15 cases, Pathankot district’s Sujanpur has emerged as another hotspot as 14 people have been found infected from the town.
Of a total of 3,461 tests conducted in the state, reports of 2,972 samples have been received. Of these, nearly 95% have turned out be negative.
Even as the state government is claiming to have increased its testing capacity to 800 tests a day, only 269 samples were sent for testing on Friday.
State health department’s Covid-19 official spokesperson Dr Rajesh Bhaskar said the department is waiting for rapid testing kits from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which will be used in the hotspots.
“In a rapid test, results arrive within 15 minutes. The samples found negative during these tests will be sent to our state laboratories to reconfirmation. Our increased capacity will be fully utilised during the rapid testing,” said the spokesperson.
“Everyday, ICMR officials assure us that rapid testing kits would be arriving anytime. We are waiting for these kits for the last three days,” a senior health department official said.
