Sangrur emerges as new hotspot as cases jump fourfold in a month

Also, the district witnesses all its 16 deaths in the same period; Malerkotla the worst-affected block

SANGRUR: With more than a fourfold (415%) rise in Covid-19 cases and 16 deaths in a month, Sangrur has emerged as a new virus hotspot district of Punjab.

The coronavirus count of the district went up from 115 on June 8 to 593 on July 7. The district, which now has 126 active cases, reported its first death on June 10 even as the state had witnessed 175 fatalities till July 7. In the past one month, the district went on to get 9.14% share of the state’s death tally.

As per the state health department’s July 7 media bulletin, Malerkotla was the worstvirus affected block in the district with 78 active cases and 12 deaths.

The Sunam block has 16 active cases without any fatality, Amargarh has 4 active cases with 2 deaths, Sherpur and Fatehgarh Panjgrain have one death each. The Longowal and Sangrur blocks have 9 and 7 active cases.

On Wednesday, Sangrur civil surgeon Dr Raj Kumar was also tested positive for the coronavirus. Also, 33 police personnel have been found infected in a month.

Deputy superintendent of

police (investigation) Mohit Agarwal said 31 cops have recovered.

Swaranjit Singh, a member of the Punjab Paramedical and Health Employees Front, said cases are increasing due to the poor healthcare infrastructure.

“Though the current testing ratio is satisfactory, it was not the case earlier. Also, people are avoiding getting their test done due to shortage of isolation facilities,” he added.

Sangrur deputy commissioner Ramvir said, “There is no community transmission in the district as yet. We are tracing all contacts of the patients found positive for the virus. Even as Malerkotla is the worst-hit area, we have deployed senior officials to monitor the situation. Also, containment zones are being declared to prevent the spread of virus.”