Patiala in Punjab has become the first city in the country to order testing for coronavirus for every resident after a third person in the city tested positive.
The third patient, a 50-year-old resident of Saifabad gate area, has no travel history and claims that he was not in touch with anybody who had a travel history. According to sources, the patient was in touch with a large number of people, forcing the district administration to opt for mass screening.
He is the second case in the city with no trace of source of infection. Four days ago, a 35-year-old gardener was tested positive. He too was unable to identify where he may have contracted the disease from.
Besides ordering mass screening, the district administration has also banned langars (free kitchens) in the city to prevent community transmission. According to the orders issued by Patiala DC Kumar Amit, food distribution activities across the city, being held without curfew passes, have been suspended with immediate effect. Only Red Cross will now be allowed to hold such activities.
“Anybody who does not have approval from administration in the form of a pass will not be allowed to run food distribution drives. All langars have been suspended. The fact that this victim had no travel history and no evident factor to explain transmission of COVID-19 has surely rung alarm bells. We have quarantined his locality, his family members and are looking for contract trail. We will screen everyone to rule out possibility of any such cases. We have ample testing infrastructure”, Kumar Amit told THE WEEK.
According to sources, call details of the third person might be checked as there is a doubt that he may be hiding his travel history or contact details.
