Nuh state’s biggest hotspot, sees 23 new cases

Shubhra Pant | TNN | Apr 8, 2020, 07:34 IST

Gurgaon: Nuh, earlier known as Mewat, on Tuesday reported 23 new cases of the novel coronavirus, becoming Haryana’s biggest Covid hotspot. At 37, the district now has the highest number of cases out of the state’s tally of 129.
Tuesday’s rise was the steepest in Nuh so far. Of the 23 fresh cases, only three are locals, from Khanpur Ghati, Sidravati and Siroli villages, while the rest are outsiders. All of them are from the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) chain.
Nine of the district’s 37 patients are of foreign origin — six from Sri La-nka and one each from South Africa, Indonesia and Thailand. The others include five each from Kerala, Bihar and UP; three each from Nuh and J&K; two each from Andhra Prad-esh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu; and one from Madhya Pradesh.
Except for one, all cases in Nuh have a TJ link.
“We had sent 337 samples for testing, out of which 37 were positive and 253 negative. The results of 65 others are awaited and expected to be out on Wednesday,” said an official.
Nearly 220 people have been have been in touch with Covid-19 patients and have been placed in isolation, the official added. About 1,205 people are under surveillance.
“We have started surveillance in 14 villages, another 36 have been identified for containment and 104 have been identified to be placed in the buffer zone,” said the official. On Monday, four villages had been sealed.
Meanwhile, in Palwal, three more cases — all imams of local mosques who had attended the Jamaat — were reported on Tuesday. The district now has 28 cases and all barring one are linked to TJ.
“We have sealed 25 villages and created containment zones there to curb the spread of the virus. This plan has been extended to three other villages too,” said Palwal chief medical officer Brahmdeep Sandhu. He added that 32 people who had travelled from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Telangana for the Jammat are in the isolation ward at Civil Hospital Palwal.
(With inputs from Ipsita Pati)