Three more Covid cases, count now 87; health team to trace Khandsa Mandi trail

Three more cases of the Coronavirus disease were confirmed on Tuesday from Sector 18, Islampur and Surat Nagar; all had contact with those who have earlier tested

Three more cases of the Coronavirus disease were confirmed on Tuesday from Sector 18, Islampur and Surat Nagar; all had contact with those who have earlier tested positive for the highly contagious Covid-19. The tally of infected persons in the district was 87, of whom 51 have recovered and 36 were being treated in hospitals.

HT Image

With fresh cases emerging from high-risk and high-contact areas, such as hospitals and vegetable markets, district administration is focussing on tracing the contacts of the positive individuals to ensure the virus, Sars-CoV-2, does not spread as some economic activity has resumed in the district.

Tuesday’s list includes a 22-year-old man from Islampur, whose parents had contracted Covid-19 and a resident of Sector 18, whose roommate tested positive in Panipat. “A Class-IV employee at the Primary Health Centre from Surat Nagar also tested positive. We are doing her contact tracing,” chief medical officer Dr Jaswant Singh Punia said.

THE KHANDSA TRAIL

The district health department on Tuesday said more people from Khandsa mandi are likely to be confirmed coronavirus (Covid-19) positive. The team plans to take up the humungous exercise of tracing hawkers who purchased vegetables from the nine vegetable sellers who tested positive on Monday.

Dr Punia said test results of 71 vegetable sellers of Khandsa are awaited.

Nine vegetable sellers and wholesale dealers at Khandsa Mandi were confirmed Covid-19 positive on Monday. Of these, seven had come in contact with Covid-19 cases from Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi and two had come in contact with people in Nasik and West Bengal.

The cases came into light when the health team conducted targeted sampling of people in the mandi last week. Sampling was done after cases surfaced in Jhajjar and Sonepat with links to Azadpur Mandi—Asia’s largest wholesale market of fruits and vegetables in Delhi which has reported 17 Covid-19 cases till now. The district health team then screened at least 1,600 people and took samples of 128 people.

“Samples of over 35 people, in contact with nine vegetable sellers of Khandsa Mandi, have been sent for RT-PCR testing,” Dr Punia said.

Gauging the seriousness of the situations, Dr Punia said they will prepare a list of vegetable hawkers who were in contact with the sellers and dealers who tested positive. “A list of such hawkers will be prepared. Their samples will be collected,” Dr Punia said, adding that random sampling of people would be done in areas where these hawkers have sold vegetables.

“Since Gurugram is a big city it will take time to prepare the complete list of such hawkers based on the information provided by the sellers at Khandsa Mandi. They will be traced and their samples will be taken. To check infection whether the disease has spread to areas where they sold fruits and vegetables, we will do random sampling,” he said, adding that the health team will take help from MCG councilors in reaching out to people.