Jalandhar district records sixth Covid death

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 6

A 30-year-old resident of Qazi Mohalla died of Covid at the PGI in Chandigarh today. This is the sixth casualty due to the pandemic in the district.

Meanwhile, the district tally reached 137 after a supervisor of Guru Nanak Mission Hospital was tested positive today. He is one of the contacts of the man who died today.

Aggressive testing needed in dist: Minister

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Wednesday asked the Health Department to expedite the testing process in the district to keep the spread of Covid-19 at bay. The minister said testing of samples was a major challenge for the state government, which would be overcome soon. The government was mulling to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory to ensure quick report of the sampling.

At least 90 staff members of the private hospital have been quarantined and their samples have also been collected.

The Deputy Commissioner and the Police Commissioner today reviewed facilities at the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, where 350-bed facility has been created to cater to rising cases.

Nodal officer, Jalandhar, Dr TP Singh said, “The samples of 90 staff members of Guru Nanak Mission hospital have been taken and they have also been quarantined. In total, 8,084 persons in the district are under home-quarantine at present.”

The district administration on Wednesday gave in-principle approval to convert 350-bed Covid treatment facility at the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) into Covid care treatment facility to meet any unforeseen urgency. During a meeting, it was decided that if required, a formal memorandum of understanding would also be signed in the coming days. Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and members of the hospital management were present.