CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR/ BATHINDA/PATIALA: In the biggest rise in Covid-19 cases on a single day in Punjab, the state on Thursday recorded as many as 162 new cases. This spike raised the total cases by a whopping 30%, taking the overall tally to 539. Of total new positive cases reported till 10:30pm on Thursday, 142 were pilgrims returning from Nanded.
Out of these 142 pilgrims who tested positive, 76 are from Amritsar, 32 from Ludhiana, 10 from Mohali, seven from Tarn Taran, five from Kapurthala, three from Gurdaspur, two each from Ropar, Sangrur, and one each from Ferozepur, Patiala, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Moga.
In Amritsar, health department mass media officer Amardeep Singh said 600 pilgrims had returned from Hazur Sahib. The health department had collected samples of 480. Out of which 76 tested positive.
In Ludhiana, 48 new positive cases of Covid-19 were reported on Thursday. The patients included 38 pilgrims who have just returned from Nanded. With this, the number of positive cases in the district has gone up to 80.
Others who tested positive were a woman jail inmate, two migrant labourers from Rajasthan, a contact of the block development panchayat officer (who had tested positive on April 24) and six others from different areas.
In Tarn Taran, seven news positive cases were reported. An official spokesperson said they had sent 251 samples for testing. Out of which seven were positive, while the test report of 134 persons was awaited.
Similarly, in Gurdaspur, a total of 541people arrived from other states. Of them were 488 pilgrims from Hazur Sahib. Deputy commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq said out of 488, the health authorities took samples of 162 pilgrims, out of which three were tested positive on Wednesday evening, while 37 were tested negative and the medical test report result of 122 pilgrims was still awaited.
The test reports of nine persons who arrived in the district from Faislabad was pending. Samples of 10 and 22 persons from Nasik and Hanumangarh were being collected.
In Malwa region, three pilgrims tested positive in Muktsar district while one pilgrim tested positive in Moga on Thursday early morning.
On Wednesday evening, two pilgrims from Bathinda district who had returned from Hazur Sahib were tested positive.
Muktsar deputy commissioner (DC) M K Aravind Kumar said, “The three had returned from Hazur Sahib on April 27. Their samples were taken on the same day and they were asked to remain in home quarantine and now the locality has been declared as containment zone. A 2 kilometre radius will be combed by the health department to ascertain possibility of any other case.”
A 60-year-old man from Galauti village in Moga district has tested positive. He had also returned from Hazur Sahib in the first jatha on April 26 in a private vehicle.
Earlier, four from Tablighi Jamaat were tested positive in Moga, but all the four were cured and were discharged from the hospital. When they were discharged, the Moga district had turned into a green zone, but now with one person having tested positive, the district has lost its green zone tag.
Ropar deputy commissioner Sonali Giri said a total of 60 persons, including 58 pilgrims back from Nanded and two from Rajasthan, have reached the district so far. Samples of 46 persons were sent for test, out of which two have tested positive. Sampling of the rest is under process.
In Sangrur district, a 50-year-old Nanded-returned pilgrim and a 39-year-old combine operator, who came back recently from Kaithal in Haryana, have tested positive for the corovirus infection. Officials said a 72-year-old pilgrim had tested positive on Wednesday, too.
Sangrur deputy commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said 253 pilgrims and 89 others from Rajasthan have arrived in the district so far. Out of the 1,230 samples collected in the district, six have been reported positive so far.
Meamwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was all set to accommodate pilgrims in its serais (inns), which have been temporarily converted into quarantine centres, its president Gobind Singh Longowal said on Thursday. In a press release, Longowal said the relevant directions had been issued to all the gurdwara managers. He said SGPC had made arrangement to quarantine them and also for their langar. He appealed to the government to send pilgrims to quarantine in inns instead of sending them to private places.
Out of these 142 pilgrims who tested positive, 76 are from Amritsar, 32 from Ludhiana, 10 from Mohali, seven from Tarn Taran, five from Kapurthala, three from Gurdaspur, two each from Ropar, Sangrur, and one each from Ferozepur, Patiala, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Moga.
In Amritsar, health department mass media officer Amardeep Singh said 600 pilgrims had returned from Hazur Sahib. The health department had collected samples of 480. Out of which 76 tested positive.
In Ludhiana, 48 new positive cases of Covid-19 were reported on Thursday. The patients included 38 pilgrims who have just returned from Nanded. With this, the number of positive cases in the district has gone up to 80.
Others who tested positive were a woman jail inmate, two migrant labourers from Rajasthan, a contact of the block development panchayat officer (who had tested positive on April 24) and six others from different areas.
In Tarn Taran, seven news positive cases were reported. An official spokesperson said they had sent 251 samples for testing. Out of which seven were positive, while the test report of 134 persons was awaited.
Similarly, in Gurdaspur, a total of 541people arrived from other states. Of them were 488 pilgrims from Hazur Sahib. Deputy commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq said out of 488, the health authorities took samples of 162 pilgrims, out of which three were tested positive on Wednesday evening, while 37 were tested negative and the medical test report result of 122 pilgrims was still awaited.
The test reports of nine persons who arrived in the district from Faislabad was pending. Samples of 10 and 22 persons from Nasik and Hanumangarh were being collected.
In Malwa region, three pilgrims tested positive in Muktsar district while one pilgrim tested positive in Moga on Thursday early morning.
On Wednesday evening, two pilgrims from Bathinda district who had returned from Hazur Sahib were tested positive.
Muktsar deputy commissioner (DC) M K Aravind Kumar said, “The three had returned from Hazur Sahib on April 27. Their samples were taken on the same day and they were asked to remain in home quarantine and now the locality has been declared as containment zone. A 2 kilometre radius will be combed by the health department to ascertain possibility of any other case.”
A 60-year-old man from Galauti village in Moga district has tested positive. He had also returned from Hazur Sahib in the first jatha on April 26 in a private vehicle.
Earlier, four from Tablighi Jamaat were tested positive in Moga, but all the four were cured and were discharged from the hospital. When they were discharged, the Moga district had turned into a green zone, but now with one person having tested positive, the district has lost its green zone tag.
Ropar deputy commissioner Sonali Giri said a total of 60 persons, including 58 pilgrims back from Nanded and two from Rajasthan, have reached the district so far. Samples of 46 persons were sent for test, out of which two have tested positive. Sampling of the rest is under process.
In Sangrur district, a 50-year-old Nanded-returned pilgrim and a 39-year-old combine operator, who came back recently from Kaithal in Haryana, have tested positive for the corovirus infection. Officials said a 72-year-old pilgrim had tested positive on Wednesday, too.
Sangrur deputy commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said 253 pilgrims and 89 others from Rajasthan have arrived in the district so far. Out of the 1,230 samples collected in the district, six have been reported positive so far.
Meamwhile, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was all set to accommodate pilgrims in its serais (inns), which have been temporarily converted into quarantine centres, its president Gobind Singh Longowal said on Thursday. In a press release, Longowal said the relevant directions had been issued to all the gurdwara managers. He said SGPC had made arrangement to quarantine them and also for their langar. He appealed to the government to send pilgrims to quarantine in inns instead of sending them to private places.
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