Nanded Sahib pilgrims: After 11 test positive in three Punjab districts, 42 quarantined in Amritsar

Two days ago, Amritsar health officials had screened the 42 pilgrims, but as none of them showed any symptoms of Covid-19, they were sent home with the directions of 14-day quarantine

After 11 Nanded Sahib pilgrims tested positive for Covid-19 in Kapurthala (3), Tarn Taran (7) and Hoshiarpur (1) districts, the Amritsar administration on Tuesday brought 42 shrine-returnees, who were sent home on Sunday, to institutional quarantine centres here.

HT Image

As per information, these pilgrims had returned to Amritsar from Nanded, Maharashtra, on Sunday and were screened by health department personnel at a dispensary here. As none of them showed any symptoms of Covid-19, they were sent home with the directions of 14-day quarantine.

For the last two days, they had been staying with their family members who did not accompany them on the pilgrimage.

As positive cases were detected among the pilgrims in neighbouring districts of Tarn Taran and Kapurthala, the state health and family welfare department issued directions to directly send the pilgrims returning from Nanded to quarantine centres and conduct their Covid-19 tests.

Complying with the instructions, Amritsar deputy commissioner Shivdular Singh Dhillon ordered to bring 42 pilgrims to government-run isolation centres. The 179 pilgrims who had returned on Monday have already been quarantined in these centres.

Dhillon said special teams were sent to the homes of these people to bring them to quarantine centres, so that the virus could not spread further if any of them had the infection.

He said the step has been taken keeping in view the detection of positive cases among pilgrims in other districts of Punjab.