By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 29 May: The number of COVID-19 cases is picking up in Uttarakhand, clocking 716 by 8 p.m. on Friday. According to the health bulletin issued at 2 pm, there were positive reports for 15 in Almora, 8 each in Bageshwar and Tehri, 54 in Dehradun, 4 each in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, 2 each in Nainital, Pauri and Rudraprayag, and 1 in Pithoragarh. However, the figures jumped sharplby 8 pm when the new health bulletin was issued, making it 206 new cases in a single day, the highest single day rise so far in the state! This indicates that Dehradun is fast becoming the hotspot for the virus in the state. Between the 2 pm bulletin and 8 pm, 114 new positive reports were declared, which should be a matter of serious concern for the state now!
All those testing positive were people who have come from outside or had come in contact with those who had been detected as positive on their return to the state. However, as many as 106 patients have recovered too and been sent home on Friday.
The Health Department received the reports of 1089 suspected patients, today, which proved negative. The samples of 1489 persons were sent for testing today. The recovery rate is around 14 percent in the state. What is pertinent to note is the fact that most of the positive cases are related to those who had returned from Delhi, Mumbai or Gurugram. Some locals who also tested positive on Friday were those who had come in contact with the Corona positive cases returning from other states. One of the cases was however of a person who had come from Moradabad in UP while another had come from Pune in Maharashtra!
At AIIMS, Rishikesh, the samples of 18 patients were found to be Covid positive. Five of these were migrants from Mumbai. Two patients are admitted to the IPD of AIIMS, whose report is also Covid positive.
According to AIIMS Public Relations Officer Harish Mohan Thapliyal, the first positive report of a 32-year-old woman admitted in the institute is a resident of Bijnor. The woman, who was seriously injured after falling from the roof, was admitted to AIIMS Trauma Center on 21 May. The woman has severe head and chest injuries. Contract tracing of the woman is being done. The second admitted patient is a 30-year-old from Tehsil Colony, Natraj Chowk, Rishikesh, who is undergoing treatment for kidney problems and hypertension at the institute. Apart from this, a 49-year-old man from Haripurkalaan, Motichur Phatak, Raiwala, came to AIIMS OPD to show a long-lasting swelling on his neck. The patient’s sample was taken on 25 May and found to be positive.
Among the migrants from Mumbai, a 22-year-old woman and 26-year-old resident of Ashutosh Nagar, Rishikesh, are quarantited at Seema Dental College. Another 42-year-old man from Mumbai at Seema Dental College, who is resident of Budoli village, Rudraprayag, has also been reported to be Covid positive, while a 27-year-old man from Mumbai, belonging to Mudashuna village, Rudraprayag district, quarantined in Seema Dental College has also been found positive. The sample of a 34-year-old resident of Gumaniwala, Rishikesh, who returned from Mumbai, was taken on 25 May and quarantined at Manasa Devi Primary School, Gumaniwala, is also Covid positive. The other two cases are of attendants of the patients admitted in IPD, including a 27-year-old woman of Lal Tappad, Doiwala, and a 29-year-old youth who is resident of Bijnor, UP. He has been admitted to AIIMS.
