Gurgaon CMO shunted out as COVID-19 cases keep rising

Gurgaon reports an average 170 cases per day in the last 10 days

Dr J.S. Punia visits an isolation ward in a Gurgaon hospital | Aayush Goel Dr J.S. Punia visits an isolation ward in a Gurgaon hospital | Aayush Goel

Owing to the consistent surge in COVID-19 cases in NCR city of Gurgaon, the Haryana government has transferred Chief Medical Officer Dr J.S. Punia. The district has recorded 1,709 positive cases in the last 10 days with 217 reported on Wednesday. Thirteen deaths have been reported from the district so far. Dr Virendra Yadav will replace Punia who will be joining as CMO, Nuh.

Yadav has been lauded across the state for controlling the infection in one of the most vulnerable and backward districts of the state. The state, meanwhile, has registered 370 new cases and seven new deaths on Wednesday. Of these seven deaths, three were reported from Faridabad, two from Gurgaon, one each from Sonipat and Charkhi Dadri, taking the total COVID-19 deaths in the state to 52. The state's total number of COVID-19 patients till date is 5,579, majority from NCR districts. 

Four Municipalities of the state had made it to the list of 50 most affected districts in the country. Special central teams have been deputed to Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panipat and Jind to ramp up containment testing and tracing efforts.

Meanwhile, a COVID-19 positive under-trial accused, who was out on bail and admitted to a hospital in Jind Civil Hospital, managed to flee. Interestingly, the accused identified as Shiv Kumar fled wearing a PPE kit through the window and passed the security gate as a doctor. He was, however, nabbed later in the evening and booked under relevant provisions of Disaster Management Act and Section 188 of IPC.