Virus source untraced, administration on toes in Patiala

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 7

Six new positive cases in the district have augmented the fear of community transmission, as the Health Department has not been able to ascertain the source of infection so far.

Of the six cases reported on Wednesday, two were peons (mother and daughter) in the State Bank of India and had no contact history with any positive patient.

Sources said health officials had got a tip-off, wherein the caller had prodded the officials to test the duo for the virus. After the two tested positive, the respective branches they were working in were sealed immediately. Besides this, samples of other staff members were taken. During a regular check-up for tuberculosis, a 19-year-old girl from Nabha who had stayed indoors all throughout the lockdown so far had also tested virus positive, said officials from the Health Department.

A 14-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman from Rajpura who have tested positive are contacts of a Covid patient.

A mystery surrounding the death of 39-year-old Patiala resident, who is said to have died of Covid, has deepened, as the family members and others who came into contact with the deceased have tested negative. The Health Department has started aggressive contact-tracing of the positive patients. Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said, “It takes time to find out the source of infection. We are working hard to trace the source.”