One dead, 93 more test +ve, Punjab tally 1,255
LUDHIANA/AMRITSAR/SANGRUR/FARIDKOT : A 50-year-old Hoshiarpur resident found infected with the coronavirus died while 106 more people, including 85 pilgrims who returned from Maharashtra’s Nanded recently, tested positive in Punjab on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 1,255.
The 50-year-old patient, identified as Mahesh Singh, was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Amritsar, on Saturday as he was suffering from chest infection and fever.
Sangrur saw a single-day spike of 52 cases, with the total count of patients in the district reaching 63. All the 52 had returned from Takht Hazur Sahib in Nanded last week. Of these, 48 are from Sangrur district, 3 from Nabha in Patiala district and one is from the neighbouring state of Haryana, officials said.
The treatment of the new patients, including those from Nabha and Haryana, will be started in the district initially, an official said. The patients are aged between six and 66.
Thirteen fresh cases were reported in Ludhiana, taking the total number of those infected in the district to 123.
In Faridkot, 12 Nanded-returnees were found infected with the disease on Monday. With this, the district’s tally of infected people went up from six to 18, a threefold jump in a single day. Now, there are 16 active Covid-19 cases in the district, while two patients have recovered.
“Of those found positive, 10 belong to Sandhwan village, one to Kotkapura and another to Lehri village in Bathinda district. The Nanded-returnees were quarantined when they reached Faridkot last week.
In Ferozepur, the reports of 13 people, who also returned from Nanded, were found positive on Monday, increasing the district’s tally to 41, including one fatality.
Deputy commissioner Kulwant Singh said of the 52 reports received on Monday, 39 were found negative. The patients were today shifted to the civil hospital. Congress’ Zira MLA Kulbir Singh Zira, who welcomed the pilgrims, went into 14-day self-quarantine. His test report also came negative.
In Jalandhar, 7 Nanded-returned pilgrims tested positive on Monday, with the district reporting a total of 131 cases, including four deaths, so far.the patients are aged between 46 and 57. Three of the patients were admitted to a hospital in Amritsar.
A woman resident of Mansa district and a man from neighbouring Bathinda who returned from Takht Huzur Sahib pilgrimage also tested positive for Covid-19. With this, Mansa district now has 13 active cases of infection with four persons having cured. Bathinda now has a total of 36 patients, all of hwom returned from Nanded.
In Gurdaspur, four more coronavirus positive cases were detected on Monday, taking the district’s tally to 35, including one death. One of the new positive patients is a 23-year-old social worker who lives in Sant Nagar locality in Gurdaspur town.
The district administration declared Sant Nagar and adjoining Bajwa Colony as containment zones and relaxations to the residents of these localities during the curfew were withdrawn. The administration also declared nearby Ram Nagar Bhoon village and Damodar village in Fatehgarh Churian block, where the other new positive patients belonged to, as containment zones. In Pathankot, two persons from Sujanpur town tested positive on Monday. The district now has 27 cases, including one death.
Both the patients are drivers. One of them, a 48-yeard-old who is working in the Punjab Roadways, ferried many J&K residents stranded in Punjab. The other, aged 42, is a driver with GREF in Mizoram and came home on March 20.
In Patiala, a 63-year-old woman from Covid hotspot Rajpura town was tested positive on Monday. Her samples were taken after her husband and son contracted infection last week.