Covid death: 15 samples of victim’s contacts collected

After one person from Ludhiana lost his life due to Covid on Wednesday while he was admitted to the GMCH in Chandigarh, doctors of ESIC Hospital, Ludhiana, who came in contact with him during his admission to the hospital have isolated themselves. The Health Department has collected 15 samples of people who came in contact with him. Civil Surgeon Ramandeep Kaur said the Health Department had already initiated immediate action. “We have commenced sampling of family members of the deceased and close contacts as a precautionary measure to assess the situation thoroughly,” she said. The Civil Surgeon also urged the people to continue maintaining good hygiene practices, wear masks in crowded areas and consult healthcare professionals for any health concerns or Covid-like symptoms. However, contrary to this, doctors and staff at the Civil Hospital, which is one of the busiest hospitals in the district, are working without masks or following other Covid-related protocols. The staff were seen attending patients in a ward without wearing masks and doctors were attending the patients in the OPD without masks. The basic protocol of wearing a mask was looked upon by the staff themselves. Even at the OPD counter, the attendant was not wearing mask and a huge rush was witnessed at the pharmacy counter. One of the patients, Vimal Kumar, who was standing in a queue at pharmacy, when asked if he was aware that one needs to wear mask, especially in crowded areas, he said, he was not aware of any such thing. One of the nursing staff members on the condition of anonymity said the weather was too hot to wear mask. “I prefer wearing mask only while going to the OT, rest of the time, I don’t wear it,” she said. The Civil Hospital is the major government hospital in Ludhiana district and patients from the entire district visit it for treatment and consultation. The variant The JN.1 variant is not entirely new, it is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant that has been circulating globally for some time and is believed to be the driver behind this surge in Covid-19 cases across Asia.

Ludhiana