E-Paper
72-year-old neighbour of Ludhiana’s Covid-19 casualty tests positive
Woman undergoing treatment at civil hospital where her condition is said to be stable; rest of her family tests negative
LUDHIANA: A 72-year-old woman living in the neighbourhood of Puja Rani, 42, the first Covid-19 casualty of Ludhiana, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The elderly woman, Surinder Kaur, lives near Puja’s house and is learnt to have met her frequently over the past few days.
She was admitted to the isolation at the local civil hospital on Tuesday night.
Deputy commissioner Pradeep Agrawal said that Puja’s daughter has, however, tested negative.
Punjab special chief secretary KBS Sidhu tweeted that 140 of the 141 samples from the state sent for testing were found negative.
Puja died early on Monday and her test reports that arrived later confirmed that she was suffering from Covid-19.
Forty-three of her direct contacts were kept in isolation but their samples have tested negative.
The elderly woman’s condition is stated to be stable.
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up in the Amarpura area near the civil hospital where Puja used to live. No one has been permitted to come out of their house to check the spread of the virus.
Puja is survived by her three children. Her husband died 13 years ago.
ELDERLY WOMAN HAD NO TRAVEL HISTORY
According to area councillor Gurdeep Singh Neetu, Surinder Kaur has no travel history.
She suffered a fracture in the arm two months ago and was undergoing treatment from a private orthopaedic clinic. She lives with her husband, Harbhajan Singh, 75. The couple has two married sons and four grandchildren. The family runs a cloth manufacturing unit in the area.
“Though the remaining nine family members have been home-quarantined, they have tested negative,” said civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga. He said 43 samples were sent on Tuesday out of which one was found positive.
“Though Puja’s daughter has tested negative, the report of her sons and other relatives is awaited, “ said Dr Bagga.
