Covid-19: One dies, 14 others test positive as Punjab crosses 300-mark

NO LET-UP Six fresh cases, each reported in state’s new pandemic hotspot, Rajpura

A 48-year-old found positive for the coronavirus in Jalandhar died while 14 other cases, including six from new pandemic hotspot Rajpura, were reported in Punjab on Saturday, taking the state’s tally of those infected to 313.

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Punjab’s death toll now is 18. The state took 46 days to cross the 300-mark of positive cases after the first patient, a Hoshiarpur resident who returned from Italy, was found infected in Amritsar on March 9.

In Rajpura town, located 25 km from the Patiala district headquarters, all the six found infected are members of an extended family. With this, the district’s tally of positive cases has gone up to 61, of which 42 are from Rajpura only.

The patients are a 65-year-old woman of NTC Colony, her two sons, aged 46 and 42, daughters-in-law, aged 44 and 41, and a 16-year-old grandson. One of the woman’s sons is a primary contact of the 44-year-old patient from the same locality who was found positive on Friday, Patiala civil surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said.

“Of the 21 samples collected on Friday, 15 were found to be negative. The six are primary contacts of a patient tested positive earlier. The department has traced their contacts and four fresh samples were collected today,” Dr Malhotra said.

“We have sealed the area and shifted the patients to the isolation ward of Government Medical College (GMC), Patiala,” he added.

The town has already been declared a buffer zone to stop further spread of the infection.

Jalandhar surpasses Mohali in district tally

The 48-year-old man, Kishan Chand, who died in Jalandhar on Saturday after suffering from pneumonia and low haemoglobin, was found positive for the coronavirus in a report that came in the evening.

The victim, who hailed from Maharashtra, worked as a leather technician in the city for the past 15 years.

Also, Jalandhar reported 5 more positive cases, taking the district’s tally to 69, surpassing Mohali’s figure of 63. Three persons have died of the infection in the district so far.

Of the five found infected on Saturday, four are relatives of a 42-year-old Basti Guzan resident, who was found positive on April 21. They are his aunt, aged 65, cousin brother (38), 37-year-old sister-in-law and a 5-year-old nephew. The health department has sealed the locality and started screening of the residents who came in their contacts.

Also, a 69-year-old man of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony, a co-worker of a 40-years-old Raja Garden resident found infected earlier, tested positive.

“The Maharashtra native (who died) suffered from pneumonia and his haemoglobin level was only 3.5,” said Abhay Gupta of Johal Multispeciality Hospital where he was admitted.

At least 35 persons, including doctors, nursing staff and class 4 employees of the private hospital where he died, were under observation.The administration cremated the body as his family was not able to attend the funeral due to the lockdown.

Doraha BDPO’s husband also +ve

A day after Doraha block development panchayat officer (BDPO) Navdeep Kaur tested positive for Covid-19, her husband Prabhjot Singh, a food supply official, was also confirmed to have contracted the infection on Saturday.

The BDPO’s husband is the eighth government employee to have contracted the disease in Ludhiana district where the total number of cases has reached 21.

On April 16, the BDPO’s mother, district mandi officer (DMO) Jasbir Kaur, 57, had tested positive. Reports of 20 more contacts, including the BDPO’s domestic help and a driver, are awaited.

All three patients are admitted at the Ludhiana civil hospital.

25-year-old found infected in SBS Nagar

In SBS Nagar district, a 25-year-old youth of Boothgarh village in Balachaur sub-division tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.

The health officials said the patient, a truck driver, returned to his village from Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 night. He was admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms and cough.

He along with his two close contacts was shifted to the isolation ward of the Jalandhar civil hospital. His parents were put under home quarantine and their samples will be collected, health officials said. The department collected 48 samples of his close contacts.

Also, the district administration sealed Boothgarh and adjoining three villages Lohgarh, Mannewal and Tejpalna. This was the first case to be reported from the district in a month.

On April 22, the administration had announced that there were no active cases in the district which so far has reported 20 positive cases, of which 18 patients have recovered with one succumbing to the infection.

Woman doctor tests positive in Pathankot

In Pathankot, a woman doctor (36) working in a private hospital tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. The district administration officials said a health department team was tracing the contacts of the doctor who works at Amandeep Hospital.

She had coronavirus symptoms and had herself asked the health authorities for a test, deputy commissioner GS Khaira said. The Adunik Vihar locality, where the woman doctor lives in a rented accommodation along with her husband (40) and two kids, was sealed by the health teams who first disinfected the area. Besides her family members, samples of her doctor colleague who used travel with her in a car and the vehicle driver were collected.

The district has reported 25 cases with one death.