Sj Desk
On Thursday, three more people in Noida tested positive for the deadly COVID-19, taking the total number of infected cases to 14. The three new cases have emerged from the Noida firm that was visited by a British national earlier this month.
According to an administration official, the British national was in the city from 15-19 March before heading back home in the UK. The man may have been a carrier of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen, added the official.
So far, 19 people who came in direct contact with the man have been identified and are currently being tested by healthcare officials. Two executives of the Noida fire safety firm appear to have contracted the infection from the foreigner at work and spread it at home, an official said.
A man, who works at the firm in sector 135 has tested positive but he did not have any showing symptoms. His wife, 47 years, who in all likelihood caught the virus from him, however, fell ill. The couple was tested and found to be infected with the SARS CoV-2 pathogen on March 24. Their 19-year-old daughter was found to test positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
The family has been admitted to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida.
A health department official said a second couple from Sector 150 has also tested positive for the virus after the husband came in contact with the same Briton at work. The 39-year-old man and his wife, 33, live in an apartment block of Noida’s Sector 150. The couple will be admitted to the Super Speciality Children Hospital in Sector 30, aNoida.
The health department has ordered the 150 employees of the firm to be put under home quarantine. The Sector 135 hotel where the British national stayed during his visit has also been sealed and sanitized.
“We are getting in touch with all the 150 employees attached with the firm to put them under home quarantine. We will also be sanitizing the hotel where the British national stayed. We are tracing all the people who came in contact with the British national and the identified patients from sectors 137 and 150. We will take samples of people who will be found symptomatic,” said Dr Anurag Bhargava, Chief Medical Officer.
