Nawanshahr, The 'NRI Belt' Of Punjab, Has Seen Half Of State's Total Coronavirus Cases

Of the total 38 Coronavirus cases in Punjab, 19 are from Nawanshahr (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) district which is known as an 'NRI belt'. Out of 19 positive cases 18 are family members and friends of a Germany-based 70 years-old-man Baldev Singh, who passed away last week. "16 positive cases are family members of the 70-year-old man while 2 others had travelled with the septuagenarian while returning from Germany via Italy, and one is a his native village Sarpunch who came in contact with him," Nawanshahr Civil Surgeon Rajinder Prasad Bhatia tells Outlook. The other 'NRI belts' of Punjab, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar have six and four Covid-19 cases each. 

Baldev Singh was a resident of village Pathlawa in Nawanshahr and came home from Germany via Italy on March 7. He died at a hospital due to hypertension on 18^th March. Almost all the family members who attended to him have got infected.  At present, 1342 people in Nawanshahr have been home-quarantined, 1023 have tested negative. Since the end of January, about 56,000 NRIs have returned to Punjab, of which 1,591 came to Nawanshahr; 30,000 of them have been isolated. Fifteen villages in Nawanshahr district has been fully sealed to prevent more infections. Essentials supply to these villages are directly controlled by the district administration.

 
 District wise Cases of COVID-19 in Punjab (as on 28.03.2023)