2 new cases reported from Krishna Nagar; district tally 13

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, April 23

The Covid-19 patient count in the district has increased to 13 as the Health Department reported two fresh positive cases from the Krishna Nagar locality here on Wednesday. The patients have been identified as a 37-year-old man and his 70-year-old father.

The Health Department has sent samples of 19 contacts — three of family members, a staff nurse and others — for testing. The reports are awaited. Meanwhile, the government had asked the department to intensify PCR testing in the area after which 50 samples were collected on Thursday.

The development has come at a time when the district had not reported any positive case in the last 13 days. Residents were hoping that with the containment plan working, the city would enter ‘green zone’. As per the government guidelines, a district, which does not report any positive case in 28 days, is declared green zone.

The development has worried the health authorities as well as residents, especially of Krishna Nagar and adjoining localities, as the area has become a hotspot for the virus infection.

Earlier also, the locality had reported two positive cases. Sixtyfive-year-old Balbir Singh and his wife living in the locality had tested positive for Covid-19. While Balbir Singh was discharged from Government Medical College three days ago after complete recovery, his wife is still undergoing treatment.

Civil Surgeon Kishore said, “The department had conducted 323 tests with rapid testing kits two days ago. Three of the persons tested were found positive in rapid test reports. Later, the samples were tested at GMC for confirmation. Two samples came positive and the third was negative.” Dr Kishore said the patients were asymptomatic as of now. The health officials stated that though the two patients lived in the same area as Balbir Singh, but no contact of them could be traced.