Nine new cases in Punjab, tally now 160

A total of 15 cases have been reported in the Jalandhar district

Nine more persons were tested positive for the coronavirus in Punjab on Saturday, taking the total number of those infected by the disease in the state to 159.

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In Jalandhar, three more patients, all family members of the city’s first coronavirus casualty, were found as infected. The patients are Mitha Bazaar resident Parveen Kumar’s 60-year-old wife, 34-year-old son and a six-year-old grandson.

The 34-year-old is learnt to have distributed ration among people along with Congress MLA from Jalandhar (North) Bawa Henry, who has also gone into self-quarantine. The health department was yet to take a decision on collecting the MLA’s samples and their other contacts.

So far, a total of 15 cases have been reported in the Jalandhar district.

Jalandhar health department nodal officer Dr TPS Sandhu said, “We have collected 367 samples of suspected patients of which reports of 130 are awaited. Ninety-one samples were collected on Saturday.”

Also, a 21-year-old Lovely Professional University (LPU) student was tested positive for the coronavirus, making her the second person to be found Covid-19 infected in Kapurthala district.

The woman, who hails from Maharashtra, could not go to her native place due to the national lockdown and stayed put in a varsity hostel.

2 more found infected in Mohali hotspot

With two more persons testing positive for Covid-19 at Jawaharpur village in Dera Bassi town on Saturday, the total count of coronavirus cases in Mohali district touched 50.

A 38-year-old man and a 58-year-old man who tested positive were in contact with the sarpanch and a panch, who are undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at Gian Sagar Hospital, Banur.

With this, the total number of positive people at Jawaharpur village, which has emerged as Punjab’s biggest Covid-19 cluster, has gone up to 34.

The samples of their family members and their contacts are being collected for testing. The district administration has already declared the village with a population of 3,000 a containment zone, completely banning the movement of people. Three neighbouring villages of Devi Naga, Mehmudpur and Haripur Kurha have also been sealed.

PCS officer’s gardener is Patiala’s second case

In Patiala, a 35-year-old gardener, who was working and staying at the official residence of a Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer, tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. He is the second positive case in the city and was admitted to the Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital.

Patiala civil surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said the gardener did not have any travel history and was not in contact with any other Covid-19 patient.

“Our teams have collected samples of his wife and two children. We have also initiated the process to quarantine the PCS officer and her contacts for medical investigation,” he said.

The patient was staying in the servant quarters of the PCS officer’s residence on Passey Road, which houses civil and judicial officers and has been sealed to check the spread of Covid-19.

33-year-old is third patient in Faridkot

In Faridkot, a 33-year-old man of Mistrain Wali locality tested positive, taking the district’s tally to three.

The man with no travel history and his three family members were admitted to the isolation ward of the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital. Their other contacts were asked to go in home quarantine. The health department has started the identification of more contacts.

Faridkot civil surgeon Dr Rajinder Kumar said, “The Mistrian Wali locality was turned into a containment zone on Wednesday as the second positive patient also lives there. The man is a contact of the second Covid-19 positive patient.”

Another case in Pathankot

In Pathankot, the number of those infected with coronavirus reached 16 on Saturday, with one more person testing positive. The patient is from Phangota village near Dunera in the district’s Dhar block and is close to the Punjab-J&K border. He is a truck driver and returned to his native village from Gurugram after the national lockdown was announced.

A woman from Sujanpur town, who was found Covid-19 positive, had died on April 5.

Deputy commissioner GS Khaira said the reports of five samples sent for testing four were confirmed as negative.