Pilgrims In Punjab Pose New COVID-19 Threat In State

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the country touch the 35,000 mark, Sikh pilgrims now pose a new threat in Punjab, where 167 new cases were reported on Thursday, April 30.

148 out of 542 total positive cases in the state are of Sikh pilgrims who came back from Maharashtra's Nanded. Out of the 148 Sikh pilgrims, 76 tested positive for the virus in Amritsar, 38 in Ludhiana and 10 in Mohali.

As many as 3,700 Sikh pilgrims were stranded in Hazur Sahib Gurudwara in Nanded, of which 3,500 pilgrims have returned to Punjab and have been put into quarantine.

The state government had sent 80 buses to bring the stranded pilgrims back to Punjab.

Hundreds of Sikh pilgrims who had returned to Punjab before April 26 were neither stopped nor screened at the checkpoints, India Today reported.

The number of Sikh pilgrims who returned to Punjab is more than 200, the security agencies claimed, adding that most of them returned in private vehicles.

The health department officials are now trying to track them and put them under home quarantine.

Punjab had 357 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with at least 90 recoveries and 19 deaths, as of Friday, May 1.

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