Pilgrim-powered Covid-19 burst a big challenge for Punjab govt

CHANDIGARH: The arrival of Sikh pilgrims from Hazur Sahib in Nanded of Maharashtra has resulted in a burst of Covid-19 cases in Punjab with 145 pilgrims found infected with the virus on Thursday alone. All the pilgrims who have been found carrying the infection were asymptomatic and it came as a surprise for all, officials said.

With this, 183 pilgrims who returned from Nanded have been found positive since their arrival in Punjab which started on April 25.

With Punjab’s Covid-19 patient tally reaching 544, of which 200 recorded in the last two day, pilgrims from Nanded now contributes to more than 33% of the total cases in the state.

The number is likely to rise further as only the reports of around 1,200 of 2,500 tested till now have arrived and the rest are awaited by late evening or by Friday morning.

There are around 3,500 pilgrims who landed in Punjab in past three days as per the data shared by the officials in chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s videoconference with deputy commissioners, SSPs and police commissioners.

Amritsar witnessed maximum 76 cases on Thursday, all Nanded pilgrims, while 37 of the 48 found positive in Ludhiana were also the pilgrims.

The explosion of cases has doubled Punjab’s tally from 272 on April 23 to 544 on April 30.

Punjab health officials have claimed that all Nanded pilgrims found positive were asymptomatic when their samples were taken. “The asymptomatic status means that despite the virus, the pilgrims kept on mingling with each other during their stay in Nanded and after their return to Punjab. It resulted in explosion in the cases,” a senior official dealing with Covid-19 cases said.

Punjab government is already in the dock over asking the deputy commissioners to follow detailed Standard Operating Procedures on April 27, two days after start of the arrival of the pilgrims to the state. The state government allegedly was also clueless about the arrival of the pilgrims in private vehicles.

Such was the casual approach of the department, as per an insider in the department, that in Amritsar district only, around 179 people were sent to ‘home quarantine’ on April 26 after their thermal scanning. “They were called back with the help of police only after four pilgrims were found positive in Tarn Taran,” said an official. In Ludhiana too, many people were called back from home quarantine.