According to the State Health Ministry data, 58 infected individuals, out of 322 cases, were traced and isolated before they could transmit the infection to others. Rest of the positive patients went on to infect many people in a cluster, leaving the health authorities in trouble to contain its spread.
More than half of the positive cases surfaced in Punjab in the last two weeks and the majority of them are linked to the 'super-spreaders' in different clusters.
To quote a few instances, a 42-year-old panch of Jawaharpur village in Derabassi of Mohali/SAS District, went on to infect 37 others which included his family members, close relatives and neighbours. He had been infected by a Tablighi Jammat member. So far, Mohali has recorded 63 positive cases out of which 22 have been cured, 39 cases are active and two patients lost their lives.
Then, a resident of Nawanshahr/SBS District Ragi Baldev Singh, who had returned from Italy went on to transmit the infection to 27 people, including family members and relatives. Baldev Singh was the first person in the state who had succumbed to the contagious disease. The SBS District is now CoronaVirus free as all the 17 patients recovered and one died.
Similarly, nearly 80 cases have been recorded from Jalandhar, where around 18 infected people are employees of a vernacular daily and 30 are their contacts. So far, Jalandhar registered 78 positive cases, 67 active cases with 8 recoveries and three casualties.
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In the sub-urban Rajpura, which falls under Patiala district, as many as 18 people tested positive. The infection is said to have spread from a hookah party, the cops later booked two-party organizers violating social distancing norms. In Patiala city itself, a book supplier transmitted the virus to 15 others. As of Monday, Patiala has confirmed 61 positive cases of coronavirus out of which 59 are active, one recovered and one lost the battle.
Talking about Pathankot, a woman who had died of COVID-19, passed on the infection to 14 people which includes her family members, neighbours and domestic help. The total tally of the district stands at 25 with 15 active cases, nine recoveries and one death.
A total of 19 cases are linked to Tablighi Jamaat and 10 are their contacts.
After the number of positive cases surged instantly, the local administrations buckled up their shoes, took stringent measures, sealed all the clusters falling in their respective jurisdictions and conducted mass testings.
Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan said, "After panch was tested positive, Jawaharpur was sealed and 200 tests were conducted in the village of which 37 came out positive."
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu also opined that the majority of the cases have come up due to super-spreaders and state has been successful in identifying their contacts, prevented the situation from getting worse. "Majority of the cases have been reported from few clusters and we have managed to put a check," said Sidhu.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) Punjab chapter President Dr Navjot Dahiya while highlighting the importance of early detection of cases said, the government has pushed their limits, aggressively started contact tracing and testing and has been able to curb the spread of the disease.
"The strategy has started showing results with more and more people being traced before they transmit the infection to other,'' said IMA President.
In another development, Punjab health authorities have found that a significant number of asymptomatic people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and this could also be the possible reason for the spread of the virus in the state.
Punjab being a hub of NRIs, stringently followed the protocol issued by the Centre govt and ICMR. State health authorities initially stressed on the screening of people coming from virus-hit countries and tested only those who showed symptoms, including their family members.
Taking testing on to next level, it started screening people who came in their contact, be it symptomatic or asymptomatic. About 73 per cent of the positive cases in Punjab did not have symptoms of carrying the virus.
As of Monday, Punjab registered 322 positive cases of novel coronavirus with 19 deaths and 84 recoveries.