No new coronavirus patient in Punjab so far on Saturday

Chandigarh, March 28 (IANS) No new case of coronavirus was reported from Punjab on Saturday, the government said. Meanwhile, the state’s first case — of an NRI belonging to Hoshiarpur — was discharged after cured.

The state has seen one death of an elderly man, who too has a travel history to Germany via Italy.

“All other 36 cases are stable and close contacts of all the positive cases have been put under quarantine and surveillance,” it said in a statement.

As per the Punjab Health Department bulletin, samples of close contacts and high-risk cases are being collected and sent to designated labs for testing. Teams are working for surveillance.

SBS Nagar, previously known as Nawanshahr, saw the highest number of 19 coronavirus patients, followed by Mohali and Hoshiarpur districts with six each, Jalandhar five and one each in Amritsar and Ludhiana districts.

The bulletin said swab tests of 264 patients have been awaited, while 596 patients tested negative out of total 898 samples collected, which amounts to 4.2 per cent positivity.

The state on March 9 tested the first positive case for the coronavirus.

The man returned to Amritsar from Italy’s Milan via Delhi on March 4 along with his two family members.

The patient belongs to Hoshiarpur town and has been hospitalised in the Government Medical College in Amritsar along with his son.

–IANS

vg/vd