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Rajpura declared as containment zone in Punjab
Administration orders screening of entire population in town where 12 coronavirus cases have been reported
A day after the number of coronavirus patients in Rajpura town of the district rose to 12 with five fresh cases, the administration on Tuesday declared the town as a containment zone.
Patiala deputy commissioner (DC) Kumar Amit also ordered screening of the entire population (around 2.5 lakh) of Rajpura, which is 25km from the district headquarters.
The tally of positive cases in the district is now 31, with 19 cases reported from Patiala city so far. The health department has collected as many as 70 samples of primary contacts of the fresh five cases in Rajpura.
On Tuesday, the DC chaired a high-level meeting of senior police and civil officials to draw a strategy to stop spread of infection in Rajpura.
“The screening of the entire population of the town will be completed in next three days. All the entry and exits points of the city have been sealed to restrict movement of people,” the DC said.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said security has been beefed up across the town and stringent action will be taken against curfew violators.
Meanwhile, Patiala civil surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said the reports of 19 samples taken from Rajpura came around 11pm on Monday.
“The five people who tested positive are all contacts of earlier positive cases in the town,” he said.
Dr Malhotra said among the latest cases, one is daughter-in-law of a 60-year-old woman, who was the first Covid-19 patient of the town. “Another one is a private doctor who attended the woman before she tested positive. We are identifying the contacts of the fresh patients,” he said.
