2,800 Rasin villagers living in fear after Karnal man succumbs to Covid-19

Their worries mount as how did 58-year-old Gian Chand contract the virus is yet to be ascertained

More than 2,800 residents of Rasin village in Karnal district are living in the face of fear after the death of a 58-year-old man from their locality.

An official of district administration checking the coronavirus safety station set up at a local administrative complex, as a pilot project to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Sangrur on Monday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

The village has been cordoned off and villagers have been locked inside their homes, while the authorities scramble to trace the source of infection that claimed the life of Gian Chand, the third Covid-19 fatality of the state.

It is being claimed that neither the victim had any history of foreign travel nor he had come in contact with any coronavirus positive patient. This has mounted concerns of villagers, especially those residing in Chand’s neighbourhood.

As soon as Chand was tested positive for the infection on April 1 at PGIMER, Chandigarh, 12 members of his family were isolated and their samples taken. Even his body was not handed over to his family members and was cremated at Chandigarh.

“Our entire village is sealed and nobody is allowed to come out. Only one person from a household could step out to fetch fodder for cattle,” said Rasin sarpanch Ram Mehar.

He said for vegetables and staples, local shopkeepers contact vegetable vendors and grocery retailers in Karnal, who deliver the order at the police naka from where it is collected for local sale.

SIGN OF RELIEF

The villagers, however, have heaved a sigh of relief as samples of most of Gian Chand’s family members tested negative for Covid-19.

Karnal deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav confirmed that Chand’s 11 family members have tested negative. “But, as a precautionary measure, police deployment in the village will last for few more days even if all family members are tested negative,” he added.

‘Sirsa woman has no history of travel, contact with corona patient’

The 38-year-old Sirsa woman, who tested positive for Covid-19 on March 30, neither has any foreign travel history nor did she come in contact with any confirmed case, said Rohtak PGIMS doctors. PGIMS nodal officer for Covid-19, Dhruva Chaudhary, said the woman was the only positive case admitted to the isolation ward, along with two suspected patients, whose reports are awaited.

“We are trying to find the actual source of infection. The woman’s husband tested negative, while their children aged 8 and 6 tested positive,” he added.

The woman ran a PG facility in Sirsa, while her husband owned a similar business in Chandigarh.

“We have taken 40 samples of the woman’s neighbours and contacts, all of which tested negative. The samples of 66 children, who were in contact to woman’s kids, also tested negative.