SMO among 5 lose Covid battle

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, August 30

Five more persons, including a senior health official, lost their lives due to Covid-19 here on Sunday. With these deaths, the toll has reached 158 in the district.

The health authorities also reported 113 new positive cases. The total count of positive cases has reached 3,921 in the district.

The deceased have been identified as Dr Arun Kumar, SMO, Civil Hospital, and a resident of Vijay Nagar (Batala Road), Kashmir Kaur, a 52-year-old resident of Chabhal Road, Amarjit Singh, a 70-year-old from Nawakot, Palwinder Singh, 42-year-old from Baba Bakala and Sheela Rani, a 72-year-old from Guru Harkrishan Nagar.

Of the fresh cases, 70 are persons having symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and 43 are contacts of positive cases. The new ILI cases were reported from the Rajasansi police station, two from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) team posted at Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport and one oral surgeon from Government Dental College and Hospital.

Of the contact cases, six were reported from BSF battalion posted at Khasa, five from Khanna Paper Mills, two from the Police Department, two from KD Hospital and eight from Basant Avenue.

At present, the district has a total of 699 active cases. The district health authorities stated that 78 patients had been cured of the illness in the last 24 hours. With this, the total number of recoveries has reached 3,064 in the district.

SMO would be remembered as corona warrior: Minister

Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Arun Sharma, posted at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyr’s Memorial Civil Hospital, who died of Covid-19 here this morning was undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu along with senior officials of the Health Department and the civil administration attended the cremation.

Dr Arun Sharma had tested positive for the virus 10 days ago. The Health Minister said he was one of the brilliant medical officers. He was just 53 years old. “He had been performing his duties with dedication since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March. He would always be remembered as a true frontline corona warrior for his services,” said Sidhu.

Dr Arun was a cardiac patient. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.

No dental services for 15 days as 3 surgeons catch virus

• With three dental surgeons at Government Dental College (GDC) catching the virus here, the Deputy Director (Dental), Dr Sharanjit Kaur Sidhu, has issued instructions to all private dental clinics not to attend dental patients except for medical emergency
• She said the surgery theatre at the hospital had also been closed for three days for sanitisation purposes. All faculty members at the department of oral surgery were asked to get tested for the virus

Weekend curfew impact

• All commercial establishments were closed and roads wore a deserted look owing to the weekend curfew on Sunday. Minimal movement of people was observed on roads, which usually wore a deserted look.
• Notably, the decision to hold stricter lockdown on weekends was taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus as a large number of residents are testing Covid positive.
• Shahid Madan Lal Dhingra Inter-State Bus Terminal wore a deserted look as the entire operations came to a halt due to restrictions.
• Passengers alighting from trains at the Amritsar railway station were also inconvenienced, as they neither found a taxi nor an auto-rickshaw to reach their destination. People commuting to rural areas were most affected.