In 16% Punjab cases, no contact history data

Vinod Kumar | TNN | Updated: Apr 21, 2020, 07:09 IST

A total of 245 positive cases have been reported in Punjab, of which origin of 38 has not been traced so far

CHANDIGARH:The Punjab health department has not been able to trace transmission history of about 16% Covid-19 cases, much to dismay of health experts, who have called for the need to track and trace history of each case for controlling the outbreak of the virus.
A total of 245 positive cases have been reported in Punjab, of which origin of 38 has not been traced so far. Of total, 10 patients had travel history while 167 were contact of positive cases.
As many as 19 were Tablighi Jamaat members, who had then spread the virus to 10 more people. The department has no data for 11cases in Jalandhar district, six in Ludhiana district, four each in Pathankot and Mohali districts, three each in Amritsar and Patiala districts, two in Barnala district, and one each in Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Faridkot, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur districts.
A senior consultant working with one of the biggest government-run health facilities in the region, who wished not to be named, did not rule out possibility of community spread, though the number of untraced cases is small. He said that efforts should be made to trace all the cases as soon as possible.
Gap might be due to recall lapse says Pb IMA chief
Terming contact tracing a difficult task, Indian Medical Association (IMA) Punjab chapter president Dr Navjot Dahyia said that the gap might have appeared due to recall lapse on part of the patients, which could be intentional as well. Dr Dahyia urged the state health authorities to ensure that the staff assigned the duty of tracing are well trained and do the job diligently.
High number of asympomatic carries
In Punjab, a large number of asymptomatic people have tested positive. As per data compiled by the health department, about 73% of the positive cases reported in Punjab did not have symptoms of carrying the virus. Out of 245 cases, 178 were asymptomatic.
In Mohali, 57 cases of 61 were asymptomatic while 22 cases of 48 reported in Jalandhar were asymptomatic. In Pathankot and Amritsar, 20 and 5 people were asymptomatic, respectively.
Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh, 33 of 39 psoitive cases till now, or 84.6%, were asymptomatic. However, in Haryana, the number of such cases is low, according to the state health authorities.
“Most of our testing for Covid-19 is only of those having any symptoms or problem related to respiratory systems etc. Even those who had travel history were quarantined and samples were taken from only such persons showing such symptoms. Data of asymptomatic is taken only when there is some direct contact of Covid-19 positive case is found,” Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj, director general, health services Haryana told TOI.
“Though we have not quantified the data regarding asymptomatic or symptomatic cases who were later found to be Covid-19 positive, as of now the number of asymptomatic cases who were found to be positive is low in Haryana,” he added.