6 health workers among 187 +ve; tally 772

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 2

With 187 new Covid-19 cases reported today, the state count has reached 772. The bigger worry now is that frontline health workers have also started getting infected. The cases reported positive today include four ASHA workers from Moga, a laboratory technician and a ward attendant at a community health centre at Doda in Muktsar district.

Of the fresh cases, 53 were reported from Amritsar, 31 Hoshiarpur, 22 Moga, 21 each from Patiala and Ludhiana, 15 Jalandhar, nine Ferozepur, six Fatehgarh Sahib, three Muktsar, two SAS Nagar and one each from Gurdaspur, Sangrur, Ropar and Kapurthala.

With 53 new cases, Amritsar district now has the maximum number of Covid patients. With 133 active cases at present, the district has so far seen eight recoveries and two deaths. Deputy Commissioner Shivdular Singh Dhillon said medical teams deployed at quarantine centers were regularly monitoring the health of quarantined persons.

Besides Amritsar, a major spike was seen in Hoshiarpur after 31 persons tested positive for Covid-19. All these are pilgrims who had returned from Nanded. At least 32 such persons have been quarantined at various centres since their return from Nanded. The tally of Covid-19 cases has reached 44 in the district.

Another alarming rise in the number of cases was reported from Moga. According to health officials, 22 new cases came to the fore on Saturday, taking the total to 28. A senior official said 17 of them were Nanded returnees and four ASHA workers. One NRI, who had come from Dubai, has also tested positive.

In Muktsar, a laboratory technician, a ward attendant at a health centre at Doda village and a combine harvester driver who had returned from Rajasthan to Doda village tested positive today.

In the last one week, 464 cases have been reported. On April 24, the total number of cases in the state was 298. However, the situation turned grim in the last three days as 397 cases have been reported since Thursday.

As per the health department, so far samples of 24,868 suspected cases were sent for testing. Of these, 19,316 were found negative and reports of 4,780 were awaited.

BOX

District-wise cases

Cases Confirmed Deaths

Amritsar 143 2

Jalandhar 119 4

Ludhiana 94 4

SAS Nagar 93 2

Patiala 89 1

Hoshiarpur 42 1

Moga 28

Ferozepur 27

Pathankot 25 1

SBS Nagar 23 1

Tarn Taran 14

Mansa 13

Kapurthala 13 1

Fatehgarh Sahib 12

Muktsar 7

Faridkot 6

Sangrur 6

Gurdaspur 5 1

Ropar 5 1

Fazilka 4

Barnala 2 1

Bathinda 2

Total 772 20

Box

Total tested samples 24,868

Negative 19,316

Reports Awaited 4780

Positive cases: 772

Cured: 108

Deaths: 20