Covid raises its ugly head in Jalandhar; June sees spurt in cases

Tribune News Service

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, June 23

A total of 102 Covid cases have been reported in the district in June so far. The figures are significantly high as compared to those reported in April and May. With four fresh cases reported on Thursday, the district tally has increased to 78,490.

Four cases surface in dist on thursday

With four fresh cases of Covid reported in Jalandhar on Thursday, the tally in the district increased at 78,490. A total of 76,875 people have recovered from Covid in the district while the number of active cases in Jalandhar is 36 today. No deaths were reported in Jalandhar today and the toll remained constant at 1,579.

Two test positive in Kapurthala

Kapurthala district reported two fresh Covid cases on Thursday. The district tally has now increased to 23,927. Meanwhile, no new virus-related death was reported in Kapurthala too. The district toll remained constant at 583. The new cases include a 44-year-old man and a 34-year-old man, both of Kapurthala city.

While the district saw 96 cases in April, 66 were reported in May. However, in June, 102 cases have already been reported. June also recorded the first Covid-related death in the district in the past three months. A person died of the virus on June 12, taking the district toll to 1,579. The last casualty reported in Jalandhar before this was on March 1.

There has also been a significant rise in the number of daily cases this month. Fresh cases have been reported in double digits on several occasions. On June 13, 16 cases were reported, 14 cases were reported on June 21 and 10 were reported on June 22. However, May saw minuscule single-day hike.

Health authorities said there was no need for alarm as cases were in control. Arrangements such as a 1,500-bed Covid facility were in place to tackle any major outbreak.

Notably, an upsurge in number of infections reported in the district was earlier reported in January and February and since then the cases have been constantly declining. It is now in June that the cases have again started increasing.

Though there has been a spike in cases, the number of patients witnessing serious complications is luckily low. Despite 36 active cases in the district at present, none of these are Level 2 or 3 patients. Health authorities also said during contact tracing, the kin and contacts of those testing positive were rarely found to be Covid positive.

Jalandhar Civil Surgeon Dr Raman Sharma said: “There is no need to panic. We have increased contact tracing and are also looking for cluster infections. But no clusters or hotspots have been found so far. The recent Covid-related death was also among patients of severe lung damage or hypertensive and diabetic elderly patients. Keeping in mind the rising cases, all those people who suffer from co-morbidities are advised to more cautious and adopt Covid-appropriate behavior. Even though there is no contingency, we are ready with backup plans to deal with any such situation. A 344-bed government facility and 1,169-bed private facility, comprising Level 2 arrangements, is all set for any future need.”

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