At 37 new coronavirus cases, Punjab reports biggest spike in a day

Tribune News Service
Jalandhar/Chandigarh, April 29

Punjab reported 37 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours---the biggest spike the state has seen since the infection was first reported in the state in March.

The state's infection tally now stands at 379.

 Ludhaina, Jalandhar, Faridkot, SBS Nagar, Hoshiarpur, Mohali, Patiala, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Bathinda all reported infections, Punjab's evening health bulletin showed.  

Over 20 Sikh pilgrims who recently returned from Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra's Nanded were among Punjab's 35 new cases, officials said. Mohali, Ludhiana, Hoshiapur, Faridkot, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Bathinda all reported that some Sikh pilgrims who recently returned from Sri Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra's Nanded had tested positive.

Bathinda, which had so far reported no infections, reported its first coronavirus cases on Wednesday. Officials said two pilgrims who returned from Nanded had tested positive.

Mohali reported eight new cases, of which five were Sikh pilgrims who recently returned from Nanded. Three others were from Jawaharpur in Dera Bassi---a village that, at 43 cases, accounts for a large chunk of Mohali coronavirus infections, which now stands at 73.

Three people who returned from Nanded Sahib tested positive in Faridkot, taking the district tally to six.

Eleven people tested positive for coronavirus in Ludhiana on Wednesday, of whom  seven had recently returned from Nanded. Four others were students who recently eturned from Rajasthan's Kota.  Ludhiana's tally now stands at  29.

Three women tested positive for COVID-19 in hotspot Moranwali village in Hoshiarpur district, taking the district's case tally to 11. The women are senior citizens and were among the 16 people who had recently returned from Nanded, where they had gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Hazur Sahib.

The group had returned in a tempo traveller after staying there for 38 days. The driver of the vehicle tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. The other 15 people were earlier home-quarantined but were brought to the isolation ward of the Civil Hospital in Hoshiarpur after the driver tested positive. 

Civil Surgeon Dr Jasvir Singh said that the samples of 35 people, including the 16 travellers and their contacts, have been taken and sent for testing and that all the 16 people have been isolated. 

Health authorities said that seven of the patients returned from Sri Nanded Sahib on April 25 while four were students who were studying at Kota and returned here April 27.

Dr Rajesh Bagga, Civil Surgeon, said that all the patients were asymptomatic. 

All 56 pilgrims from Nanded and 20 students who returned from Kota have been quarantined for 14 days. While the students were kept in isolation by the administration, the pilgrims were sent back to their homes to self-quarantine but were called back.

Liekwise, two residents of Kapurthala's Sultanpur Lodhi residents who recently returned from Nanded also tested positive. The district tally now stands at eight. These two cases have yet to be added to the state's official tally.

Patiala reported two new infections, the update showed.

Health authorities say the source of infection in both cases was likely from outside Punjab.

In Sangrur, a Dhuri resident who returned from Sri Hazur Sahib on Monday has tested positive for Covid 19, officials said on Wednesday---a development that takes the district's infection tally to four.

Jalandhar reports two cases, one death

In Jalandhar, test reports of a 50-year-old woman from Jalandhar who died on Tuesday came back positive on Wednesday, officials said. The woman was cremated on Tuesday.

This death has yet to be counted in Punjab's offial death tally, which still stands at 19. 

Two more people tested positive in Jalandhar later in the evening, officials said on Wednesday evening. However, these two infections have yet to be added in the state's official tally.

The development takes the Jalandhar's infection tally to 88---the highest in the state.

Mohali has the second highest number of cases at 73 and Patiala comes next at 63.

Bathinda has become the latest district in Punjab to report Covid-19 infections. This development means that only Fazilka has reported no infections.

Besides, the state's update showed SBS Nagar had reported two new infections, taking its tally to 22.  

The state government's update also shows that except for three of Mohali's cases from Jawaharpur and two of SBS Nagar's cases, the source of infection of all of Wednesday's cases is likely to be outside Punjab. 

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