In state’s Covid hotspot, 7 more cured, to go home

JALANDHAR: Seven more people, including a 78-year-old man and a two-year-old boy, were declared cured of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar on Tuesday.

With this, a total of eight people, five of them family members of preacher Baldev Singh, Punjab’s first coronavirus casualty, have recovered out of the total 18 positive patients under treatment at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar civil hospital.

Fateh Singh, the son of Baldev Singh, was discharged from hospital on Sunday.

The seven people discharged comprise the three grand-daughters and a two-year-old grandson besides Baba Gurbachan Singh, the head of Dera Bhai Ghaniya Singh, Pathlawa, and Daljinder Singh, a resident of Jhikka, both of who had returned from Germany via Italy along with Baldev Singh, and Pathlawa village sarpanch Harpal Singh. All of them tested positive on March 20. They tested negative on Sunday and their second sample was collected on Monday.

Baldev (70) died after a heart attack on March 18. His sample results received a day after his death showed him as Covid-19 positive. Twenty-seven of his contacts, including 14 of his family members, tested positive.

Two other grandchildren of Baldev Singh tested negative for the first time on Tuesday. Their second sample results will determine if they can be discharged.

TIMELY TRACING, ISOLATION HELPED

Senior medical officer Dr Harwinder Singh said it was a challenge for them because the family was in trauma due to chain of events. “We counselled them and will continue our efforts to boost their morale,” he said.