Punjab’s first corona casualty Baldev Singh’s son tests negative for Covid-19

Three other family members, however, test positive again, re-sampling will be done next week

JALANDHAR: The 35-year-old son of Baldev Singh, Punjab’s first Covid-19 casualty, tested negative on Saturday, while three others of his family have again tested positive for coronavirus.

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Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar deputy commissioner Vinay Bublani confirmed the development. Civil surgeon Dr Rajinder Prasad Bhatia said, “We will collect the second sample of the 35-year-old man who has tested negative for coronavirus.”

The district health authorities on Friday collected the samples of the six family members of Baldev Singh of Pathlawa village in Banga sub division. The health officials said that the family members of the septuagenarian victim include his three sons, 36-year-old daughter, 40-year-old daughter-in-law and a granddaughter, 17, who tested positive for Covid-19 on March 21. They are being treated at Civil Hospital, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.

A senior heath official said, “We are planning to shift him from the isolation ward (where positive patients kept) to a separate ward of the civil hospital. Re-sampling of patients who tested positive for the second time will be done in next week again.”

Baldev Singh, 70, the only Covid-19 casualty from Punjab, has emerged as the state’s ‘super-spreader’ with total positive cases from his direct contacts touching 27. Fourteen of his family members tested positive, including his two-year-old grandson.