Coronavirus: 76 untraced passengers from abroad give Chandigarh admn the jitters

Of the 15 Covid-19 cases in the city so far, five recently came from abroad and the rest are those who came in contact with them

The UT administration is yet to trace the 76 people who returned to Chandigarh from abroad in March. These residents have not been found at the UT address mentioned in their passports.

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Of the 15 Covid-19 cases in the city so far, five recently came from abroad and the rest are those who came in contact with them.

“We initially received a list of 1,600 people who came to the city in March. On Saturday, this number was updated to 2,277,” said a senior UT official requesting anonymity.

Of the 2,277 people, the administration is trying to trace the 676 persons who returned to the city after March 14. “While 626 of them were already under home quarantine, the administration has marked 30 more for home quarantine, and 20 were quarantined on Tuesday,” the official said.

However, adding to the administration’s worry are the missing 76 persons, all of whom returned before March 14.

“We are yet to trace 76 people. Some are not present at the address mentioned in their passport, and their houses are locked. The others, we suspect, have shifted to other states. We will make a list of such people and share it with other states,” the official said.

As of March 31, as many as 1,070 people in the city are in quarantine, but the administration has not clarified as to how many of them returned from abroad or the number of people they have come in contact with.

“It’s a precarious situation. People who have returned from abroad and have not reported to the administration should come forward and disclose their travel history and status of health,” said Ravindra Khaiwal, additional professor, school of public health, PGIMER. The guidelines are clear and should be followed religiously, the professor said.