Chandigarh: Punjab is expected to witness a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the state as eight pilgrims who returned from Nanded in Maharashtra Sunday have tested positive.
Over 3,200 pilgrims had been stuck for over a month in Nanded in Maharashtra where they had gone to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Hazur Sahib and been living together at the shrine complex.
The Punjab government is now bringing them back in buses. The eight positive cases are from the first batch of pilgrims who arrived Sunday.
While the first lot of 219 pilgrims reached Punjab Sunday afternoon, another group of 176 pilgrims reached Bathinda late that night. Another 467 pilgrims reached Bathinda in 13 government buses Monday evening. The rest are on their way.
The state government had initially advised home quarantine for those found asymptomatic. But after the eight pilgrims — five who had reached Tarn Taran and three from Kapurthala — tested positive, it changed orders.
The home department has now issued strict orders that everyone reaching Punjab from outside will be compulsorily screened at a government facility and will be allowed to leave only if they test negative.
Home Secretary Satish Chandra told ThePrint that everyone will be tested for Covid-19 through the RT-PCR test and only those who come out to be negative will be asked to go and quarantine themselves at home. Those who are positive will be isolated in hospitals. “This will now be valid for everyone entering Punjab from outside states, including the pilgrims,” he said.
Also read: After 16 Covid deaths, Punjab is struggling to explain its high mortality rate
Efforts had been on to get pilgrims back
Both the ruling Congress and the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had been trying to get the pilgrims stuck in Nanded back to the state. While the SAD’s Maharashtra unit had organised transport for some of the pilgrims, the Punjab government sent 80 buses to Maharashtra, many of which are now bringing back the remaining pilgrims.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh spoke to one of the pilgrims in the last bus that left Nanded Monday evening.
Spoke to Rajwinder Singh Grewal from Ludhiana who is amongst last group of pilgrims to leave from Hazur Sahib, Nanded for Punjab. Happy to share that all the pilgrims have either reached or are on their way back. Thank the admin of Nanded & our officials for getting our pilgrims. pic.twitter.com/vRWHe62KZG
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 27, 2020
The chief minister and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the SAD had been urging the central government to permit the state to bring back its residents stuck outside Punjab. Akali MP Balwinder Singh Bhundur said the Punjab government had dragged its feet on the issue and only woke up when efforts made by the SAD were about to fructify.
“The green light for the repatriation of the pilgrims was finally given when Mrs Harsimrat Badal met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on April 22 and requested him to speak with the Maharashtra CM on this issue,” he added. “Following this, 10 buses that had been stationed in Sri Hazur Sahib for three days by the SAD Mumbai unit were given permission to leave for Punjab with 300 devotees. The SAD Mumbai unit arranged for these buses and paid for them.”
Also read: No lockdown for Ludhiana garment units. They’re working full time to make PPEs, hazmat suits
More pilgrims, labourers to be brought back
The Punjab government also contacted the Delhi government Monday to facilitate the evacuation of 250 Sikh pilgrims stuck at a gurdwara in Delhi’s Majnu Ka Tila locality.
Apart from them, 2,900 labourers are returning in 60 Punjab government buses from Jaisalmer, where they were stranded in five relief camps.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said 152 students, stranded in Kota, were brought in specially hired buses to Bathinda, from where they had been transported to their respective destinations and will be tested for Covid-19.
As of Monday, Punjab had 330 positive cases, with 19 deaths. Nearly 98 patients have recovered. Jalandhar is the worst affected city with 78 cases followed by Mohali (63), Patiala (61), Pathankot (25), SBS Nagar (20), Ludhiana (18), Amritsar (14) and Mansa (13).
Also read: How Punjab kept its farm economy going and brought Asia’s largest grain market back to life