Punjab: 8 Sikh pilgrims from Nanded test positive for coronavirus; total count 330

Eight of the Sikh pilgrims who recently returned from Maharashtra's Nanded tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, prompting a decision to quarantine and test all those who are brought to Punjab from there. Meanwhile, a 63-year-old woman in Patiala died of coronavirus, taking the death tally to 19 in Punjab, an official said.

With the eight pilgrims found infected with the virus, the infection count in the state has gone up to 330. According to a medical bulletin, five of the pilgrims belonged to Tarn Taran while three hailed from Kapurthala. Around 4,000 pilgrims from Punjab, who had gone to pay obeisance at the Gurdwara Hazur Sahib in Nanded, were stuck there because of the coronavirus lockdown. Now, they are being brought to Punjab after the intervention of the Union Home Ministry.

"It has been decided to put them in a government quarantine and test everybody," Punjab's special chief secretary KBS Sidhu tweeted. He said around 4,000 people from Nanded and 3,000 from Rajasthan's Jaisalmer have started reaching the state. The Punjab government on Monday also contacted the Delhi authorities for the safe return of 250 Sikh pilgrims stuck at the Majnu Ka Tila gurdwara.

About the woman's death, an official said she was undergoing treatment at the Rajindra hospital in Patiala. Twelve coronavirus patients ?six from Mohali, five from Amritsar and one from Patiala-- were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of cured patients to 98 in the state, as per the medical bulletin. Jalandhar district continued to lead the COVID-19 tally in the state with 78 coronavirus cases, followed by 63 in Mohali.

Of the rest cases, 61 cases were reported in Patiala; 25 in Pathankot; 20 in SBS Nagar; 18 in Ludhiana; 14 in Amritsar; 13 in Mansa; seven in Hoshiarpur; six in Kapurthala; five in Tarn Taran; four in Moga, three each in Rupnagar; Sangrur and Faridkot; two each in Fatehgarh Sahib and Barnala; and one each in Muktsar, Gurdsapur and Ferozepur. A total of 15,516 samples have been taken so far in the state, of which 12,333 have tested negative and reports of 2,853 are still awaited. There are 213 active cases in the state, the bulletin said.