8 Nanded pilgrims Covid-19 +ve, first death in Patiala

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR/JALANDHAR/PATIALA: Covid-19 spread further in Punjab on Monday as Tarn Taran district, which had been unaffected by the virus so far, reported six of the total nine fresh cases in the state and Patiala its first casualty.
With this, the number of Covid-19 cases in Punjab reached 331 and deaths 19. Eight of the new cases are of pilgrims who returned from Nanded, Maharashra, over the weekend — five from Sursing village in Tarn Taran and three from Phagwara in Kapurthala district.
The sixth Tarn Taran patient, and the ninth in Punjab, is a woman who delivered a baby two days ago and used to visit the hospital regularly.Authorities are yet to find her source of infection.
Patiala’s first Covid-19 casualty was a 62-year-old woman from Rajpura who was diabetic and had hypertension. She died of complications arising out of virus at Government Rajindra Hospital,civil Patiala, around 12.15pm. Kapurthala, which had recored a death and two recovered cases so far, now has six cases.
The five Tarn Taran pilgrims were screened for the virus at Sursing hospital upon their arrival from Nanded. The woman patient hails from Basarke village. Tarn Taran administration has declared village Sur Singh and Lahuka as containment zones and have sealed its entry and exit points. Deputy commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said the administration was making arrangements for treating patients and tracing their contact history.
The deceased in patiala was admitted to hospital on April 16, and she had a respiratory ailment at the time. Patiala civil surgeon Dr Harish Malhotra said the woman’s condition had been critical throughout her treatment and she had to be put on ventilator.
She also underwent dialysis. The civil surgeon said all other coronavirus patients admitted in the isolation ward of Government Rajendra Hospital were out of danger and recuperating well. Her last rites were performed as per protocol and the funeral was also attended by the representatives of Patiala administration.
Tarn Taran Covid-19 nodal officer Jagjit Singh Walia said all villages had been sealed and health authorities were conducting screening and virology tests upon persons who were in contact with the patients.
Tarn Taran SDM Rajneesh Arora said 35 more pilgrims from Nanded had arrived on Monday and were subjected to health screening in Sarhali Kalan government hospital before sending them to their respective homes. All of them have been advised to be in home quarantine for 14 days. They hail from Burj Rai, Balare and Pangota villages.
Also, nine students from Kota in Rajsthan who were stranded there due to lockdown arrived in Amritsar.