Coronavirus cases in Sirsa, Hisar send government in a tizzy

Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 1

The detection of coronavirus cases in previously unaffected areas such as Sirsa and Hisar has sent the Haryana Government in a tizzy.

Coupled with reports that 125 people from Haryana were among those who attended a religious congregation in the Nizamuddin area of New Delhi recently, the situation has given sleepless nights to state government functionaries.

Until now, an overwhelming number of cases (21 of the 29) were reported from three districts—Gurugram, Faridabad and Panipat in the National Capital Region (NCR)—bordering Delhi. Except for a couple of cases from Panchkula and Ambala, most cases were reported from the NCR.

"The detection of cases from cities like Hisar and Sirsa is bad news for the state," said a senior health department official, adding that it meant that the infection was travelling fast from NCR to other regions.

Haryana reported one case from Sirsa and one from Hisar on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Anil Vij, Health Minister, however, claimed that the state government was fully prepared to tackle the challenge and said that the situation was under control.

Haryana reported its first positive case of COVID-19 on March 17 from Gurugram. For almost a week, nearly all cases were concentrated in the NCR, especially in Gurugram, Faridabad and Panipat.

That was perhaps the reason that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced a partial lockdown on March 22 in seven districts in the NCR.

COVID-19 tracker

Total persons put under surveillance 13979

Persons currently under surveillance 13334

Persons completing surveillance 645

Persons currently hospitalized 323

Samples sent for testing 794

Negative tests 543

Results awaited 227

Positive cases 29

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.