Sonipat's Deputy Commissioner Shyam Lal Punia said in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all the eateries had already been directed to maintain a register to record the number of visitors and their contact details. (Representational)

The Sonipat district administration has launched a massive contact-tracing drive after 81 workers at two popular eateries in Sonipat’s Murthal, nearly 50 km away from Delhi, tested positive for Covid-19.

Sonipat’s Deputy Commissioner Shyam Lal Punia said sampling work has been initiated at other eateries also.

Sixty-five workers at Amrik-Sukhdev Dhaba and 16 at Garam Dharam Dhaba had tested positive for coronavirus following which both the eateries were sealed Thursday. Murthal is known for its eateries which dot a stretch on both sides of the Ambala-Delhi national highway.

The DC said in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all the eateries had already been directed to maintain a register to record the number of visitors and their contact details.

“We have launched a drive to trace people who ate at these places in the last few days. Other prominent eateries in the area are also being screened and sampling of the workers is being done,” the official said.

Sonipat’s Chief Medical Officer Dr J S Punia said the majority of those infected at the Sukhdev dhaba were workers who had recently come from Bihar. “They all live in a colony near the dhaba and we are tracing and testing all of their local contacts. Moreover, we have also informed health authorities in Bihar about this and as the infected persons could have come into contact with many there as well,” the CMO said.

Health authorities in Sonipat district appealed to those who may have eaten food at these two eateries during the past few days to watch out for any symptoms they may develop and isolate themselves.

While health officials said they will be able to give an estimate of number of people who visited the two eateries in a few days, local sources said the footfall at both these places is between 3000-5000 persons. Even during pandemic, the footfall had been between 1500-2000 per day.

The DC had earlier said that the Sonipat district administration had been running a special drive for the sampling of workers at the eateries and it was during this process that these cases were detected. In view of the pandemic, he said the district administration keeps carrying routine checks at eateries to ensure that they follow all norms and guidelines.