Hotspot tag difficult to shake off as Dera Bassi accounts for 50% Covid-19 cases in Mohali

Mohali : The tag of Covid-19 hotspot seems to have stuck to Dera Bassi as 90 of the 176 cases reported in the past three months are from this subdivision of Mohali.

The first case was reported on April 4 in Jawaharpur village and the count went up to 46 till the last case was detected on April 30. The village was declared containment free on May 25 after being sealed for 51 days. The source of infection could not be traced.

Now the focus is on Mubarakpur. After five children and three women from one family tested positive on June 13, the total number of cases in the village has gone up to 10

Dera Bassi subdivision comprises Dera Bassi town, Zirakpur and Lalru and has a population of around four lakh. All the towns are located on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway.

As of now, 23 cases are from Dera Bassi town, eight from Zirakpur and 12 from Lalru.

“Dera Bassi has borders with other states and more workers come to work here in the factories in the area. Zirakpur too has a migrant population,” said Dr Manjit Singh, civil surgeon, Mohali.

There’s a big migrant population in Zirakpur too. “We are trying our level best to take maximum samples from the area,” he said.

Dr Vikrant Nagra, nodal officer, Dera Bassi, said, “As far as Mubarakpur is concerned, we know that one person from Delhi who had come to the village tested positive on June 8, following which sampling was done and 10 more persons from the same family were infected.”

Nagra said around 50 samples were taken and a lane with a 100-metre area around it had been sealed. All families living there had been home quarantined. If 10 more cases were reported then the village would be declared a containment zone.

Kharar subdivision, which comprises Nayagaon, Mullanpur, Kurali and some villages, has 38 cases.

Sounding a note of caution for local residents, Dr.Harmandeep Kaur Brar, nodal officer for Kharar, said though the lockdown in the state had been lifted, “if we adopt a careless attitude and do not use precautions, the disease can strike us again in no time.”