3 dead, 109 Nanded-returnees among 172 test +ve in Punjab
CHANDIGARH: Three persons infected with the coronavirus died while 172 fresh cases of the disease were reported in Punjab on Sunday, taking the total number of patients tested positive so far to 1,149.
Kamla Devi (62) of Basti Jodhewal in Ludhiana and Narayan Dass (65) of Kapurthala, who were undergoing treatment at the Covid-19 unit of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC&H), succumbed to the infection on Sunday. Ashok Kumar (45), a mason from Ali Ke village in Ferozepur district, also died of the disease.
With this, 23 persons have succumbed to Covid-19 in the state so far. Of the 172 newly detected patients, 109 are those who returned from Takht Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra. In Ludhiana, a house surgeon, a woman, was found infected.
SBS Nagar district saw a 200% rise in Covid-19 cases after 57 Nanded returnees tested positive. A total of 62 returnees from Nanded, including 12 cotton workers, have tested positive so far in the district.
Muktsar district saw the second highest number of cases at 43. Of these patients, 42 are Nandedreturnees, said an official. With this, the number of those infected in the district jumped 8 times to touch the figure of 49.
In Tarn Taran district, 26 Nanded pilgrims, including four children, tested positive on Sunday. Of those tested positive are nine females. Three of the patient are in their sixties. The district so far has 40 cases.
In Barnala district, 15 persons, including 11 Nanded-returned pilgrims, tested positive. The patients were being shifted to an isolation facility at Sohal Patti, a health department official said. With this, the number of active cases in the district is 17.
Nine Nanded-returned devotees from Anandpur Sahib and Nurpur Bedi areas in Rupnagar district were found infected on Sunday. The patients, who were quarantined at a gurdwara serai, were shifted to Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital in Banur.
Amritsar recorded six fresh cases, taking the total tally of the positive patients in the district to 214. Of the six new patients, five are those who recently returned from Nanded, while one is of a lab attendant at Government Medical College, Amritsar. Of the 214, 198 are Nanded returnees.
Also, four more persons tested positive in Jalandhar. With this, a total of 124 positive cases have been reported in the district so far. The health department officials said the four patients are close contact of those found positive earlier.
In Hoshiarpur district, three more positive cases were reported. An official said the three labourers recently returned from Maharashtra.
Two male residents of Lalru town in Mohali district, aged 47 and 34, who returned from Nanded three days ago, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.
The district now has a total of 95 cases. Of the 61 people who came back from Nanded in the district in the past five days, 21 have tested positive.
In Gurdaspur, three bus drivers, who brought pilgrims from Nanded also tested positive on Sunday. The district administration has quarantined 20 bus drivers, who brought pilgrims from Hazur Sahib.
(Inputs from Ludhiana, SBS Nagar, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Barnala, Ferozepur, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur
and Mohali)