Two blocks of Panjab University sealed after employee tests positive for Covid-19

CHANDIGARH: Two Panjab University buildings —Aruna Ranjit Hall and administrative block — were sealed after a female employee tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

Another woman, a 38-year-old from Khuda Lahora, also tested positive, taking the count of infections in Chandigarh to 420.

The 37-year-old PU employee, a resident of Sector 29B, works at the re-evaluation branch located in the Aruna Ranjit Hall. She had last attended office on June 19.

The university spokesperson said around 30 contacts of the employee and three family contacts that lived on the campus had been identified and asked to remain in quarantine as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, the UT health department has also indentified 10 workplace contacts - six from Chandigarh, three from Punjab and one from Panchkula. They have been put under home quarantine.

According to health officials, the PU employee is a relative of an already positive patient, who hails from Himachal Pradesh and is admitted at PGIMER.

PU registrar professor Karamjeet Singh said as an employee posted at the re-evaluation branch was found infected and it was suspected that she and her family may have come in contact with employees of other branches, Aruna Ranjit Hall and the administrative block had been sealed and sanitised as a precaution.

In the meantime, all officers posted in these blocks will seek information from their charges as to whether they had any contact with the employee.

Of the 420 confirmed cases in Chandigarh, 322 have recovered and six have succumbed to the virus. The city now has 92 active cases.

THREE NEW CASES TAKE MOHALI TALLY TO 229

MOHALI: A 25-year-old woman from Baltana in Zirakpur was among the three new Covid-19 cases in Mohali on Wednesday.

Besides the woman, two men, aged 56 and 42, residents of Gillco Heights, Kharar, and Shivalik City, Kharar, respectively, were found infected. Both men work in the advertisement department of a vernacular newspaper.

Civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said the 56-year-old man had diabetes and hypertension, while the other man also had high blood pressure. They were both admitted to the hospital with fever over the past week.

Of the 229 patients in the district, 171 have recovered and three have died, leaving 55 active patients.

MUZAFFARNAGAR MAN DIES AT DERA BASSI HOSPITAL

A 67-year-old man hailing from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh succumbed to Covid-19 at Indus International Hospital in Dera Bassi on Wednesday.

Dr Singh said the patient was referred to Dera Bassi by a private hospital in Muzaffarnagar due to severe lung infection on June 21. He later tested positive for Covid-19 and died on Wednesday.

“We have sent the body to Muzaffarnagar following proper protocol. This death will not be counted in Mohali district,” he said.

STAFF NURSE AMONG TWO FOUND INFECTED IN PANCHKULA

PANCHKULA: Two persons, including a staff nurse and a merchant navy official, tested positive for Covid-19 in Panchkula on Wednesday, taking the district count to 99.

The nurse, aged 27, who works at the civil hospital in Sector 6, is a resident of Sector 2, Majri Chowk. According to health officials, she had come in contact with an infected relative.

The other patient, aged 40, lives in Sector 20. While his two previous reports had returned negative results, he got tested again before reporting for work and was found positive.

Of the 99 confirmed cases in the district, 50 have recovered, leaving 49 active cases.