Jail Warder, Female Health Worker Among 18 Fresh Cases in Haryana; Total Count 250

Chandigarh: The coronavirus count rose to 250 in Haryana with 18 more people, including a jail warder and a health worker, testing positive for the infection on Sunday.

According to a state Health Department Bulletin, nine cases were reported from Faridabad, four each from Gurgaon and Ambala; and one from Bhiwani.

The jail warden posted in Gurgaon district tested positive for the infection after he returned from leave, officials said.

The warden was on leave since April 9 and had visited his hometown in Bhiwani district. He was tested for the infection when he showed its symptoms on joining duty.

The bulletin said an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) who worked in a containment zone in Ambala also tested positive for the infection.

Ambala Chief Medical Officer Dr Kuldeep Singh said the other three patients from the district were members of a family which lived at Sahjadpur village near Ambala City.

He said they were taking treatment from a Panchkula doctor, who had earlier failed to inform the authorities about a coronavirus positive woman, whose eight members of family also tested positive for the disease a few days ago.

The Ambala authorities have collected the list of all those who had got themselves treated from the doctor.

The total active Covid-19 patients in the state are 144, the bulletin said, adding that so far 104 patients have been discharged from hospitals. The state has so far recorded two coronavirus deaths.

The worst-affected districts of the state with the maximum number of positive cases are Nuh (57), Faridabad (42), Gurgaon (36), and Palwal (34).

As many as 12,687 samples have been tested so far, of which 10,230 have tested negative. However, the report of 2,201 samples is awaited.

The total number of cases includes 24 foreign nationals, of which 14 were the Italian tourists. Thirteen of them were discharged while one elderly woman in the group had passed away recently even though she had recovered from the infection.

The other 10 foreign nationals found infected with the virus are from countries Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia while 64 are from other states, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Anil Vij said 19,663 teams have been constituted to for the door-to-door screening of people.

If anyone shows COVID-19 symptoms like fever, cough, cold, their samples will be taken, he said.

Vij, who also holds the Home Department portfolio, said he has issued orders that all personnel from the Health Department, civic bodies or police personnel who enter any containment area in the state as part of their duty will be equipped with personal protective equipment.

There are over 260 containment and buffer zones in the state so far, he said. Vij assured that sufficient PPE kits are available.

"We have made 25,853 kits available in the districts and as many are in the stock and are being issued as per the need," he said.

Vij informed that he had recently appealed to private doctors to open their clinics and come forward to attend to patients who need medical attention for ailments other than COVID.

The private doctors responded and a good number of them have opened their clinics. The Indian Medical Association has also issued guidelines which they need to follow these days on how and what number of patients they can attend to, he said.