Faridkot reports first Covid-19 case

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, April 4

A resident of Harindra Nagar here has tested positive for Covid-19, said officials of the district administration on Saturday.

After receiving the report of the 35-year-old patient on telephone from Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDL), Amritsar, on Friday late evening, the police sealed all entry and exit points of Harindra Nagar, where office of the person is also located. He is in the business of currency exchange and booking of air tickets.

He was admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) on April 2 with symptoms of Covid-19, where his samples were taken and sent to VRDL in Amritsar. Samples of his wife, four-year-daughter and mother have been collected and sent for testing, the officials said.

The officials said the Health Department was working overtime to ascertain how the person contracted the disease he has no travel history to any foreign country. The authorities are working to trace all those persons who came in contact with the patient in the past about 20 days. They are analysing his call records and questioning him for help in the task.

As part of precautions, doctors are following all protocols for suspected cases such as contact listing and quarantine of contacts, said Dr Rajinder Kumar, Faridkot Civil Surgeon. Sources at the GGSMCH said the patient was under treatment and was breathing without ventilator. Deputy Commissioner Kumar Saurabh Raj said the patient had been kept in isolation ward and his condition was stable.

The Health Department is also trying to trace those who had come in contact with the patient during a family function at a resort in Faridkot on March 15 where 250 guests were present. The department has asked 31 employees of a branch of a nationalised bank here to remain in isolation as the patient had made a number of visits to the branch in the past about 20 days.

A senior Health Department functionary said: “We are collecting contacts and addresses of those persons who visited the bank branch in the past 20 days and will test them if they show symptoms.”

In total, about 150 persons have asked to remain in home quarantine for coming into contact with the patient, the functionary said.

Seeking cooperation from the public, Dr Rajinder Kumar said those who had met the patient after March 12 must come forward voluntarily to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

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