Since December 29, Punjab has reported 1,656 new Covid cases out of which 800 are from Patiala and Pathankot alone. (File) Amid rising Covid cases in Punjab that touched 419 on Monday, Pathankot and Patiala saw a surge in positivity rate, forcing the two districts to tighten curbs. Both districts have reported 50 per cent of the state’s total case load in the past 6 days.
Pathankot closed all private as well as government schools till Class 4 and Anganwadi centres, while in Patiala, Thaper University closed offline classes for first year students in all streams.
It needs to be mentioned that since December 29, Punjab has reported 1,656 new Covid cases out of which 800 are from Patiala and Pathankot alone.
Patiala has reported 502 new cases since December 29, while Pathankot has reported 298 cases till January 3.
On Monday, many students of Rajindra Medical College, Patiala, were found Covid positive. Health Department sources said that the medical college hostel is being vacated and Punjab CM will be part of an emergency meeting Tuesday morning to take stock of Covid situation in Punjab.
Medical Education and Research Minister Dr Raj Kumar Verka confirmed that over 100 students of Rajindra Medical College have been tested positive. “Nearly 1000 students live in hostel which is being vacated. Students have also tested positive in Adesh University, Bathinda. More tests are being conducted,” he added.
On January 3, positivity rate of Patiala was 23.95% followed by 16.2% of Pathankot. Ludhiana which had less than one per cent positivity rate about a week ago had 6.6% positivity rate on Monday. On Monday, only 9,354 tests could be conducted in the state out of which 419 tested positive — 143 were from Patiala alone and 58 from Pathankot, while 57 from Ludhiana.
On January 2, 417 were tested positive out of which 133 were from Patiala and 78 from Pathankot.
A total of 332 had tested positive on January 1 and Patiala and Pathankot had reported 98 and 53 cases, respectively.
Dr Rajesh Bhaskar, nodal officer, Covid-19, Punjab, said, “In Patiala, maximum cases have been reported from Thaper University only. Their first year has gone online, while in Pathankot schools have been closed till Class 4. Every district is adding restrictions as per the growing number of cases.”
“Looking at the positivity rate, steps are being taken,” added Dr Bhaskar.
Meanwhile, the response to vaccination drive remains lukewarm in the state.
Only 3,071 teenagers in age group 15-17 got themselves vaccinated on Monday while total vaccination in all categories was 91,404 for the day. Rushum (15) in Fazilka was the first one to take the jab in civil hospital.
Radhika, a Class 12 student, was the second person in this category in Fazilka.
Radhika said, “I was waiting for this category to be opened. My uncle is a doctor and hence I had no doubts about delaying the vaccination.”
In Ludhiana, Kanishka was jubilant after getting the first dose. She is 17 and said that she will encourage her friends too to take the first dose.
Parth, a Class 12 student, said, “I am 17-year-old and I have taken my first jab. People should come in large numbers. Vaccines are to build our immunity amid rising Covid cases.”
Around 18 students came at one go in Sangrur in the morning session.
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