E-Paper
Chandigarh MC traces 245 contacts of 18 coronavirus patients
All the 245 people are under home-quarantine
The contact tracing team of the municipal corporation has completed the task of tracking all those who came in contact with the 18 Covid-19 positive patients of Chandigarh, seven of whom have recovered. The count is 245 and they all are under home-quarantine.
A total of 1,446 people were put under home-quarantine, of which 245 had come in contact with positive patients; 163 people attended or came in contact with persons who attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s Markaz event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area; and 103 had attended a kirtan function in Sector 27 by Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, who died of Covid-19.
So far, 900 persons have completed their home-quarantine period.
Chandigarh had reported its first positive case on March 18 — a 23-year-old woman from Sector 21 with foreign travel history. She had come in contact with 60 people before she was admitted to an isolation ward, hence, all 60 were put under home quarantine.
Five people, including her mother, brother, cook and two friends, contracted the infection from her in Chandigarh, besides one in Mohali and a salon worker in Panchkula, the district’s first case. The only other positive case so far in Panchkula is a nurse who attended to the salon worker at the local civil hospital.
The 23-year-old has since recovered and was discharged on April 6.
The highest number of contacts were traced back to a 22-year-old man from Sector 30, who had returned from Dubai and tested positive. He came in contact with 130 people and ended up infecting three — his mother and two friends.
Another positive case, an NRI man from Sector 33, came in contact with 29 people and infected three, including his mother, wife and a 10-month-old daughter. His wife’s mother also tested positive in Mohali. Similarly, a man from Sector 35 came in contact with 15 others before he tested positive.
After that, a nursing officer at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education And Research, came in contact with two persons, while a doctor from Sector 49 came in contact with six others before testing positive. They were all home-quarantined.
An MC official requesting anonymity said, “This does not mean that our work of contact tracing is over. Now, the focus is on the list released by the central government and other updates regarding persons returning from other high-risk cities or states.”
NOW, APP TO MONITOR PEOPLE IN ISOLATION
The municipal corporation has started monitoring people who are quarantined at home through a mobile application.
The app makes it mandatory for the person in isolation to update their medical condition on a daily basis. In the last two days, all those under home quarantine downloaded the app. An official involved in the process said it was a far better way to keep tabs on those in quarantine instead of keeping in touch through phone.
The total number of persons in home quarantine has crossed over 1,000, making it hard for authorities to keep a daily track of their health, especially when UT has extended the quarantine period for those in isolation. Even those who have served a quarantine period elsewhere are being put under another 14-day isolation term upon reaching Chandigarh.
