Punjab’s Jawaharpur village emerges Covid-19 hotspot with 22 of Mohali’s 37 coronavirus cases

Sarpanch’s 67-year-old father is latest to test positive, a week after village leaders organised langar, distributed medicines and masks among needy and labourers

MOHALI: Jawaharpur, a non-descript village near Dera Bassi town on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway, accounts for 22 of the 37 coronavirus disease cases in Mohali district, making it Punjab’s new Covid-19 hotspot.

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All 22 residents who tested positive from Jawaharpur village are family members of the woman sarpanch and a panch and their contacts. The sarpanch and panch are cousins.

They organised langars (community kitchens), distributed medicines and masks among the needy and migrant labourers last week, accelerating the spread of the disease.

Mohali civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said that the 67-year-old father of the sarpanch was the latest to test positive. He has also been admitted to the isolation ward at Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur.

The panch was the first positive case reported from the village on April 4.

“All 22 patients are responding well to treatment. The reports of 16 more residents of the village are awaited,” the civil surgeon said.

COVID COMMANDOS DEPLOYED

A strict curfew has been imposed in Jawaharpur to check the spread of coronavirus. Twenty-five policemen, including Covid commandos, have been deployed in the village to ensure that no one steps out.

“Five coronavirus patients have been cured and discharged from various hospitals of Mohali district over the past four days,” Dr Singh added.