Mohali sees highest single-day spike
Nine of the cases are from Dera Bassi subdivision, which accounts for 50% of district’s tally
MOHALI: Sixteen people, including two women and two children, tested positive for Covid-19 in Mohali on Sunday, in the biggest single-day spike witnessed in the district, which took its total count of confirmed cases to 176.
As many as 56 of these cases are active. The previous biggest spike of 13 cases was reported on April 30.
Among the fresh cases, while nine are from Dera Bassi subdivision, the remaining seven are from Kharar subdivision.
They include a 21-year-old man from ATS Society, Dera Bassi; one, aged 48, from Dappar; another, aged 57, from Mubarakpur village; and a 30-year-old, also from Dera Bassi. Four persons, including a 32-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman from Lalru; two men, aged 52 and 28, from Chaundhed village; and a 49-year-old man from Dhakoli in Zirakpur, also in the Dera Bassi subdivision, also tested positive.
In Kharar subdivision, two cases — of men aged 23 and 37 — are from Janata Colony, Nayagaon, four — two men, aged 38 and 40, besides an 11-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy, are from Kurali and that of a 19-year-old boy from Shivalik City.
“All the patients have been moved to Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur,” said Dr Manjit Singh, civil surgeon, Mohali.
The Nayagaon patients were contacts of an infected patient, while the man from Mubarakpur had connections with a family in which eight members were infected, he said, adding that most of the patients have travel history.
NOW, MUBARAKPUR A CAUSE OF CONCERN
Meanwhile, the tag of Covid-19 hotspot seems to have stuck to Dera Bassi as 90 of the 176 cases are from this subdivision of Mohali. Kharar and Mohali account for 43 cases each.
Dera Bassi’s first case was reported on April 4 in Jawaharpur village and the count went up to 46 till the last case was detected on April 30. The village was declared containment-free on May 25 after being sealed for 51 days. The source of infection could not be traced.
Now, the focus is on Mubarakpur. After five children and three women from one family tested positive on June 13, the total number of cases in the village has gone up to 10.
Dera Bassi subdivision comprises Dera Bassi town, Zirakpur and Lalru and has a population of around four lakh. All the towns are located on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway.
As of now, 16 cases are from Dera Bassi town and nine each from Zirakpur and Lalru.
“Dera Bassi has borders with other states, and being an industrial hub, it also houses many migrant workers. Zirakpur, too, has a migrant population,” said
Dr Manjit Singh. “We are trying our level best to take maximum samples from the area.”
Dr Vikrant Nagra, nodal officer, Dera Bassi, said: “As far as Mubarakpur is concerned, we know that one person from Delhi who had come to the village tested positive on June 8, following which sampling was done and more persons from the same family were found infected.”
Nagra said around 50 samples were taken and a lane with a 100metre area around it had been sealed. All families living there had been home quarantined. If 10 more cases are reported, then the village would be declared a containment zone.
Kharar subdivision, which comprises Nayagaon, Mullanpur, Kurali and some villages, is also witnessing a spike. Sounding a note of caution for locals, Dr Harmandeep Kaur Brar, nodal officer for Kharar, said: “Though the lockdown has been relaxed, if we adopt a careless attitude and do not use precautions, the disease can strike us again in no time.”