Ludhiana breaches 700 mark with highest single-day spike of 61 Covid-19 cases

58% of the total 728 cases surfaced after the curfew restrictions were removed across Punjab on June 8.

Over three months after Ludhiana reported its first case on March 24, the district Covid-19 crossed the 700 mark with 61 new cases on Friday.

There has been no let-up in the soaring infections despite the state government imposing weekend curfew. (HT File Photo)

The new cases, which are the highest Covid-19 spike so far, have now taken the district count to 728.

Of these, 485 people have been cured and 19 have succumbed to the virus.

There are now 224 active cases in the district.

Among the new cases on Friday are a 48-year-old health worker from Dugri and two police personnel, including a DCP.

16 cases from Giaspura

The highest number of cases, at 16, was reported from the Giaspura area. Besides five cases are from Jalandhar Bypass area, three from Sahnewal and three from a colony near Sangeet Cinema.

Two cases each were confirmed at Bhamia Kalan village, Aman Nagar, BRS Nagar and Bahadurke village.

Besides, two patients are employees of the ESI Hospital.

DCP found infected

DCP Ashwani Kapoor was among those confirmed infected. Following this, his 20 workplace and family contacts were home quarantined, while samples of 14 primary contacts were collected for testing.

Significantly, 58% of the total cases cropped up after June 10 when the curfew restrictions were lifted in the district, allowing free public movement and businesses to reopen.

After the first case was reported on March 24, it took the district 38 days till May 2 to reach the 100 mark and another month until June 1 to hit the 200 mark.

But as the curfew started being eased, cases continued to multiply within a few days. While the district had 300 cases as of June 10, it took just five days for the count to reach 400 on June 15 and another five days to reach the 550 mark on June 20.

In more worrisome development, in just six more days till June 26, the cases multiplied to 728.

As of June 25, out of the total 207 female patients, 19 were pregnant when they tested positive for Covid-19.

Containment zone most affected

The Covid-19 cases witnessed a sharp rise primarily in densely populated containment zones of Chhawani Mohalla, Prem Nagar, Issa Nagri and Habib Gunj. Cases also continued to surface in the micro-containment zones of Model Town, Janta Nagar, Bhamia Colony. Only parts of an area are sealed in micro-containment zones.