Faridkot, Pathankot report first cases, spread in 11 districts now

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 4

With eight fresh cases reported today, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has reached 65 in the state. Now, a total of 11 districts are affected with the virus. As per the Health Department, three cases have been reported from Amritsar, two SAS Nagar and one each from Jalandhar, Pathankot and Faridkot.

The number of patients from Amritsar increased to eight as three family members of Darshan Singh, a member of Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa’s Ragi jatha, were found positive. Darshan Singh had tested positive for corona yesterday. The confirmed family members today included his wife, son Jagpreet Singh and grandson Taalveer Singh.

Apart from that for the first time, Faridkot reported its first case. A 35-year-old man, who deals in foreign currency exchange and air tickets, was found positive. After confirmation on Friday late evening, the police sealed all entry and exit points of Harindra Nagar in Faridkot where the residence and the office of this Covid-19 patient are situated. He was admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) on April 2 with symptoms of Covid and the doctors had sent the samples for verification at VRDL, Amritsar. The Health Department is working overtime to assess the route of this virus disease, how and where it caught this patient as he has no travel history in the recent time. The samples of his wife, four-year-old daughter and mother have been collected and sent to Amritsar, officials said. “As part of precaution, we are following all protocols for suspected cases such as contact listing and quarantine of contacts,” Dr Rajinder Kumar, Civil Surgeon, Faridkot, said.

As per the Health Department, so far the samples of 1,824 suspected cases were sent for testing, of which 1,520 were found negative and the reports of 239 were awaited. A total of 65 were found positive from 11 districts. The state has reported five casualties so far. With the fresh positive cases, now 11 districts of the state are affected with the virus.