Ludhiana: Health advisory goes for a toss in rallies amid rise in Covid-19 cases

Hindustan Times

11-06-2025

With the district seeing a steady rise in Covid-19 cases, the local health department has been asking the people to wear masks in crowded areas, but this advisory is not being followed during the election campaign for the Ludhiana West by-poll which is picking up steam with each passing day.
Ludhiana has been witnessing around 2-3 cases every day. People turning up at public meetings and other political campaigns can be seen sans masks. Even the candidates, who are busy wooing the voters, are seen without masks.
The district has so far recorded 26 cases of Covid with two deaths. Ludhiana is also the leading district in the state in Covid cases. Out of the 26 Covid positive cases, most of the patients, including those who died, were vaccinated.
State Covid nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhaskar expressed concern over the lack of Covid-appropriate behaviour during political campaigns amid the steady rise in cases. 'This is a concern as Covid cases are surfacing regularly not just in Ludhiana but across the state. We have been asking people to mandatorily wear masks in crowded places. This also includes election rallies,' said Dr Bhaskar.
He said the health department was considering urging the state government to issue an advisory to ensure adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour to prevent the spread of infection. Deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain said the district administration had not issued any such advisory for campaigns as there had been no such order from higher-ups. 'We are following the advisories being issued by the health department and the Election Commission,' he added.
Meanwhile, three new Covid cases were reported in the district on Tuesday, taking the tally to 26 cases so far. The new cases include three men aged 16, 30 and 38 years.
Two of them — the 16-year-old and the 30-year-old — are asymptomatic while the 38-year-old is mildly symptomatic. Besides the new cases, one of the cases earlier reported positive recovered on Tuesday.
Of the total 26 cases reported so far, only 14 are positive at present. Of them, 13 are mildly symptomatic and in home isolation. Ten people have recovered so far. Two people, one 40-year-old man and another 69-year-old lady, both suffering from comorbid conditions, have died of the infection. All the people reported positive so far have been vaccinated for Covid, except an 18-year-old.