A 35-year-old Faridkot-based foreign money exchanger, who visited New Delhi before the lockdown was imposed, tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, becoming the first person in the district to be infected by the disease.
Police sealed Harindra Nagar locality in the town where the patient lives. Deputy commissioner Kumar Saurabh Raj said, “The locality was cordoned off as a preventive measure so that no outsider can enter the area,” he added.
Faridkot civil surgeon Dr Rajinder Kumar said the patient was admitted to the isolation ward of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, on April 2 after he complained of Covid-19-like symptoms. “He tested positive as per report received from the virology laboratory of the Government Medical College (GMC), Amritsar. His condition is stable right now. He does not have any foreign travel history but visited New Delhi on March 12,” he said.
“He had cold and had fever on March 21, but instead of informing the health department he visited a private doctor for treatment. Later too, he consulted another physician on phone,” said the civil surgeon.
“We have collected 24 samples of the persons who were in contact with the money exchanger. They have been sent for Covid-19 testing. A 54-year-old paternal aunt of the patient has been admitted to the isolation ward as she reported of coronavirus-like symptoms. His mother, wife and a seven-year-old daughter have been kept under home quarantine. The tracing of all the persons came in contact with him is under process,” he added. .
{{/usCountry}}“We have collected 24 samples of the persons who were in contact with the money exchanger. They have been sent for Covid-19 testing. A 54-year-old paternal aunt of the patient has been admitted to the isolation ward as she reported of coronavirus-like symptoms. His mother, wife and a seven-year-old daughter have been kept under home quarantine. The tracing of all the persons came in contact with him is under process,” he added. .
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Visited DMC, 2 private clinics in Ludhiana earlier
The man who tested positive for Covid-19 had visited the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and two private hospitals in Ludhiana before getting admitting to the Faridkot medical college. All the three hospitals refused to admit him and advised him to go to thee civil hospital.
His uncle said, “But when fever did not go away even after more than a week he went to DMC, Ludhiana, and two private hospitals there on March 31. But all of them refused to admit him. They advised him to visit the civil hospital after which he came back to Faridkot and got admitted to the medical college on April 2,” he added.