Coronavirus: Two eateries in Haryana sealed after 75 employees test positive
Health officials have also begun a massive contact-tracing drive as the two eateries are frequented by travellers.
Two popular dhabas or highway restaurants in Murthal village in Haryana’s Sonipat district, around 50 kilometres away from Delhi, have been sealed after 75 employees tested positive for the coronavirus, PTI reported on Friday.
Health officials have begun a massive contact-tracing drive as nearly 10,000 people have been reported to have eaten at the two restaurants in the last one week. The authorities, have, however not yet given an estimate of the number of visitors.
The two eating joints are a favourite among people travelling between Delhi and Chandigarh.
Sonipat Deputy Commissioner of Police Shyam Lal Punia told PTI that sixty-five employees tested positive for the coronavirus at the Amrik Sukhdev dhaba while 10 others were found to be infected at the Garam Dharam dhaba. He added that both the eateries were sealed on Thursday until further orders.
Punia also said that health authorities have begun sampling work at other eating joints in the district.
Sonipat Chief Medical Officer Dr JS Punia said that a huge number of workers who have tested positive for the infection at the Amrik Sukhdev dhaba were from Bihar. “They [the workers] all live in a colony near the dhaba and we are tracing and testing all of their local contacts,” he told PTI. “Moreover, we have also informed health authorities in Bihar about this and as the infected persons could have come into contact with many there as well.”
According to The Tribune, the workers had come from Bihar to Haryana in a bus less than a week ago and the owner had made them take coronavirus tests. Health workers had collected samples of nearly 300 workers.
Health officials in Sonipat district have appealed to the people who visited the eateries in the past few days to isolate themselves and monitor their symptoms.
Haryana had reported its biggest one-day rise of 1,881 coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 69,359. The state’s toll rose by 19 to 740. Sonipat alone has reported 4,747 cases and 41 deaths so far, according to PTI. It is the third worst-hit district in Haryana after Faridabad and Gurugram.