Septuagenarian succumbs, toll in Amritsar disrict 44; total cases 966

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 1

With the death of a septuagenarian due to Covid-19 here, the toll in the district reached 44 on Wednesday. The district also reported nine new positive cases today with which the total number of positive cases has increased to 966.

The deceased has been identified as Om Parkash, a 73-year-old resident of Green Avenue, who was admitted to Amandeep hospital.

The health authorities reported that of the new patients, five are ILI (influenza like illness) cases reported from Diamond Avenue, Kamla Avenue, Raja Sansi, Katra Moti Ram and Joshi Colony.

The remaining four patients are cases with contact history. Of these, one was reported from Basant Avenue, two from Jujhar Singh Avenue (Ajnala) and one from Kamla Avenue. The district has so far witnessed 759 recoveries, while 107 active cases are admitted to various hospitals and 56 have been kept in home isolation.

Meanwhile, the suspected patients, whose samples were sent for Covid-19 testing, continue to complain of delay in getting reports. Even as Cabinet minister Om Parkash Soni had instructed the health administration to ensure the availability of test reports, whether negative or positive, to the concerned patient within 24 hours, the reports in many cases were being delayed.

An insider at Employees State Insurance (ESI) Hospital, where at least three positive employees have been reported so far, said: “One of the radiographers at the hospital tested positive on Tuesday. The samples were sent for testing on June 23. It took seven days for him to know that he was positive.”

The employee’s sample was sent for testing as two employees at the hospital had tested positive earlier and the employee had developed fever. Even though he kept himself in self-isolation at home, chances of a gullible person acting as a spreader when he or she does not even know about his health status cannot be ruled out.

Tarn Taran reports another +ve case

• One Covid-19 positive case was reported from the district here on Wednesday. He was a resident of Rataul village and had returned from Bahrain. He was sent to the isolation centre at the hostel of Guru Angad Dev College, Khadoor Sahib.
• He has now been shifted to the isolation ward of the local Civil Hospital, where the count of the admitted Covid-19 patients has reached 12. Khadoor Sahib Kar Sewa sect run by Baba Sewa Singh is looking after the returnees with food and shelter among other needs.
• According to information, 13 persons who returned last night from Kuwait were isolated at Khadoor Sahib. The returnees said they remained in lockdown in Kuwait for about four months and bore all expenditure themselves. OC