Holla Mohalla is celebrated every year, a day after Holi, at Anandpur Sahib. Holla Mohalla is celebrated every year, a day after Holi, at Anandpur Sahib.

WITH COVID-19 cases on the rise, the state government is now urgently trying to track people who attended the three day-long Holla Mohalla festival at Anandpur Sahib of Punjab’s Ropar district. While the district administration has managed to collect the contact details of around 2,000 people, over 2 lakh attended the festival. Moreover, news that the Nawanshahr coronavirus patient who died on March 18 had also attended the festival, has spurred the government to implement contact tracing on a war footing.

The government is contacting all 2,000 people whose contacts were collected by the district administration to maintain a database. All these 2,000 people are being contacted for the past five days by the state Health and Family Welfare Department to check on their health.

Of these 2000 persons, there were around 115 persons who complained of mild fever and cough but have been examined by the respective district health departments across the state.

Though the database of around 2 lakh visitors was to be prepared, contact details of only 2,000 visitors could be collected – which is one per cent of the total visitors to the town – because in a vehicle carrying 50-70 passengers, only one or two persons, who were the main representatives, gave their contact details to the district administration during the festival.

The exercise of contacting each of these 2,000 persons will continue till March 24-25 as the festival culminated on March 11. The incubation period of the disease is 14 days.

Holla Mohalla is celebrated a day after Holi at Anandpur Sahib. Community food service (langar) and ‘chhabeel Langars’ (sweet water) are spread across all roads leading to Anandpur Sahib from across Punjab. This year, several NRIs also participated in the festival.

Deputy Commissioner Anandpur Sahib Sonali Giri said, “We got to know about the visit of the coronavirus patient from Nawanshahr, who died on March 18, to Holla Mohalla. We got the details of all Dera sect clientele visited Holla Mohalla from Moga, Ludhiana, Fateh Garh Sahib, Mohali, Hoshiarpur and other districts and the district administrative authorities of all these districts have been informed to keep in touch with them to know their well-being and that of the persons accompanying them.”

On Friday, health department teams also conducted house-to-house check-ups during which residents of 2000 households out of 4100 households were screened, and remaining will be covered Saturday, said the DC.

30 more put under home quarantine in Jalandhar and Phagwara

All 11 staff members of the United Bank of India (NRI Branch) at Phagwara have been put under home quarantine following detection of a suspected case of coronavirus.

Sources said a woman staff member, who came in contact with an NRI visitor, developed the symptoms, following which she was put under home quarantine.

The woman hails from Chandigarh and was traveling from Chandigarh daily via public transport. After her case, the remaining 10-member staff, who also came in contact with her, was put under home quarantine including 7 at Jalandhar and 3 at Phagwara.

Moreover, 19 members of 15 families in Patel Nagar Area of Phagwara have been put under home quarantine following the death of an 80-year-old man, who had returned from the UK on March 4, Thursday. He was cremated by the family before the civil hospital could take his sample.

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