Dera Bassi accounts for 41% of all coronavirus infections in Mohali

MOHALI: There has been no respite for residents of Dera Bassi sub-division in Mohali district, which has been continually recording the highest number of Covid-19 cases since the outbreak was first reported. As of August 7, the sub-division has 485 cases (41.4%).

Kharar is next with 366 cases (31.3%), followed by Mohali city with 318 (27.2%).

Dera Bassi sub-division comprises Dera Bassi town, Zirakpur and Lalru with a population of around four lakh.

All towns are located on the busy Chandigarh-ambaladelhi highway.

Jawaharpur was its first village to be declared a hotspot with 46 cases on April 30.

Later, the focus shifted to Mubarakpur village, where 26 cases were reported in May. Now, the count is going up because of cases coming in from the entire sub-division.

Pointing out the likely reason, Dr Manjit Singh, civil surgeon, Mohali, said Dera Bassi was located on the interstate border and more people from other states were coming here to work in factories.

Zirakpur too had a huge migrant population. “We are trying our best to take maximum samples from the area,” he added.

Dr Vikrant Nagra, nodal officer for Dera Bassi, said Zirakpur

and Dera Bassi were semiurban areas with a large number of residential societies.

Attributing the spike to aggressive sampling, he said most of the patients were the contacts of positive patients and had travel history.

After Dera Bassi, Kharar sub-division comprising Nayagaon, Mullanpur, Kurali and some villages has reported 346 cases.

Dr Harmandeep Kaur Brar, nodal officer for Covid-19 in the district, while sounding a note of caution, said though the lockdown had been lifted, people’s carelessness would mean a surge in infections.

“If we do not observe precautions, the disease can strike us again in no time,” she said.