Infant among Amritsar’s three coronavirus deaths

Tribune News Service
Amritsar, June 8

An eight-month-old baby was among Amritsar’s three coronavirus deaths on Monday, officials said—a development that comes as the district’s COVID-19 tally inches closer to 500.

The baby was from Amritsar’s Gopalpura Manjwind village and was admitted to Government Medical College in critical condition. The child’s initial symptoms were fever, cough, diarrhoea and lack of appetite, doctors said. He was moved to the hospital’s ICU as soon as tests came back positive.

The infant is the district’s youngest casualty to COVID-19.

The other fatalities were both elderly, ages 60 and 78.

District health authorities said both patients suffered from existing health conditions such as diabetes and heart problems.

The state’s health bulletin however registered only one of the three deaths.

When the other two are recorded, the district’s death toll will rise to 11, surpassing Ludhiana’s fatalities.

Amritsar also reported 18 new coronavirus cases, although the official state tally shows only 12 cases on Monday.

It is not unusual to see such discrepancies between district and the state’s official tally, especially given that many cases are confirmed after the state tally is already compiled.

Meanwhile, Amritsar administration sealed off six localities in the walled city area on Sunday.

Bambay wala Khoo, Gali Kandhari, Katra Moti Ram, Ram Bagh wali gali, Katra Nain Sukh wali gali and Ganj di Mori was declared a containment zones on Sunday.

Government rules say that any area with 15 or more cases is declared containment zone. The cluster has reported 19 cases over the last week.

Amritsar has been reporting a spike in COVID-19 cases this past week. The district currently has 128 active coronavirus cases, of which 75 have been reported in the last three days alone.

Amritsar also has the most COVID-19 cases of Punjab’s 22 districts—the number of infections now stands at 481.