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7 of Panchkula family test positive
‘PRIMARY SOURCE’ 44-year-old woman from Sector 15 was first to test positive, followed by her husband
Seven members of the family of Sector-15 couple also tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday.
Panchkula civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur confirmed the development and said teams were in process of tracing their contacts.
A post office agent, the 44-year-old woman, who is said to be the primary source of infection, had tested positive on Tuesday, while the reports of her 48-year-old husband, an architect, arrived a day after.
“The family members who were found infected are the woman’s 14-year-old daughter, two brothers, sister-in-law and her son, and sister and her daughter. The reports of other their contacts are awaited,” said Dr Kaur. Panchkula DC Mukesh Kumar Ahuja said till now, 55 contacts of the woman had been traced.
The woman was shifted to a private hospital in Sector 21 after she complained of respiratory distress, said Dr Kaur. He husband is also in the same hospital while her other family members have been shifted to Maharishi Markandeshwar Hospital in Mullana.
Woman’s travel history tells a different tale
Contrary to the previous claims that the woman neither had any travel history nor contact with any infected person, it has now come to the fore that she, along with her family members, had gone to Pathankot’s Dehriwal village on March 18 to attend a relative’s funeral.
“The source of her infection is yet to be ascertained, but her visit to Pathankot suggests that she picked the virus from there. Teams are working to trace the primary and secondary contacts of the woman and her family,” the DC said. It has been, meanwhile, learnt that some persons in Pathankot, where the woman had visited, have also tested positive. However, the health department is trying to gather more details.
PVT DOCTOR IN DOCK
The doctor of a private clinic in Sector 11 is in dock after Haryana health minister Anil Vij on Thursday ordered registration of an FIR against him for violating the Epidemic Act by not alerting the health department about the woman. Panchkula DC Mukesh Kumar Ahuja said it was a case of complete negligence on the part of the doctor as neither did he inform about the woman, nor refer her to the civil hospital despite detecting a spot in her X-ray report. The doctor had reportedly prescribed the woman an antibiotic course.
The woman’s condition had started deteriorating on April 2, but she initially chose to self-medicate. On April 6, she visited the doctor’s clinic in Sector 11 and went to the civil hospital after being referred for a CT scan on April 11.
The doctor, his family and other staff members have also been quarantined. Now, there are currently 12 active cases in Panchkula as the first two patients, both women, have recovered and been discharged.
HARYANA TALLY REACHES 200 MARK
With 10 more positive cases, including seven from Panchkula, two from Nuh and one from Palwal, the total number of cases in Haryana climbed to 200 on Thursday. However, after adding the cases of 14 Italian tourists, the number stands at 214.
Senior officials said while two positive cases having Tablighi link were reported from Nuh, one case, also having the same connection, was detected in Palwal.
51 DISCHARGED SO FAR
The health department bulletin said eight patients were discharged after their treatment on Thursday — three each from Faridabad and Palwal and one each from Bhiwani and Nuh — taking the tally of the cured people to 51. With the additional 13 cured Italian tourists, the total count of such persons is 64.
