Attari Retreat put off, Covid count 31

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Amritsar, March 6

The Retreat ceremonies at joint checkposts of Attari-Wagah (Amritsar), Hussainiwala (Ferozepur) and Sadiqi (Fazilka) have been suspended from tomorrow till further orders in view of the coronavirus threat in the country even as a Delhi resident tested positive today — the 31st such case in the country.

While visitors and tourists would not be allowed to attend these ceremonies, flag hoisting and lowering would be carried out as usual, said BS Rawat, BSF DIG, Amritsar.

In another development, a delegation of 13 Italian tourists was kept in isolation overnight at a hotel in Amritsar till they were medically examined in the morning by a Health Department team. However, no suspected case was detected.

The New Delhi resident who tested positive for Covid-19 today has a travel history to Thailand and Malaysia. With him, the number of such patients in the NCR has now gone up to four, including three positive cases in Delhi (a male who returned from Italy; a Paytm employee who toured Venice and a resident who returned from Thailand and Malaysia) and one in Ghaziabad with recent travel to Iran.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting with state governments to take stock of isolation and quarantine facilities and discuss infection control. A Covid-19 training workshop was held here in collaboration with the WHO India. It was attended by 280 state representatives.

Apart from 31 positive cases under isolation and currently stable, India has 29,607 persons under Covid-19 watch under the integrated disease surveillance programme, Vardhan told Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in answer to a question in the Lok Sabha. Also, 92 samples are currently under test for confirmation and another 23 for reconfirmation.

The Centre today exempted all employees from biometric attendance until March 31. Also, the Health Ministry issued an advisory to states to avoid or defer mass gatherings.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri told a news conference that 6,49,452 passengers at 30 Indian airports from 6,550 international flights had been screened as of March 5.

Meanwhile, Bhutan has confirmed its first case—a 76-year-old US tourist who was in India between February 21 and March 1 before reaching Bhutan on March 2.

The Health Ministry here said the “contact list of the American tourist has been obtained and necessary follow-up initiated”.