In Amritsar, coronavirus cases double in 27 days
AMRITSAR: The Covid-19 cases in Amritsar—the worst hit district in the state — witnessed a sharp spike in the last 27 days as the cases doubled from the 300 to 600.
The first coronavirus case was reported in Amritsar on March 21 when a man, who had returned from the United Kingdom, tested positive. The district, which has been put in the ‘red-zone’ category, took another 58 days (till May 18) in the complete lockdown for the figure to reach 305 cases. Of the 304 people, 263 had returned to Amritsar from Takht Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra.
The doubling time of patients in Punjab came down from 55 days on June 4 to 25 days on June 12. On May 18, patients in the state had doubled after 91 days. Punjab has detected over 700 Covid-19 cases since June 1.
But soon after the relaxations in the lockdown were imposed, Covid-19 cases doubled from 305 to 613 in 27 days (till June 14). Out of the total 613 Covid-19
cases to date, 418 have recovered and 21 people have died.
The sharp rise in the numbers has been attributed to the spread of infection in the community and to the relaxations in the lockdown. The number of deaths reported in the district was also increasing rapidly. Of the 21 deaths due to the disease in the district to date, 17 were reported in the past 27 days. Also, 10 of the 17 deaths were reported in the past 5 days alone.
Amritsar, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Himanshu Aggarwal said, “Most of the cases are being reported through the flu corners and many are the close contacts of the Covid-19 patients. The health department and administration is doing active surveillance and trying to contain the virus spread.