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Coronavirus in Chandigarh: 23-yr-old woman stable, 119 contacts quarantined
Suffering from mild fever; samples of her father, mother, brother, driver and cook also sent to the testing centre at PGIMER; results awaited
The 23-year-old Chandigarh woman, who tested positive for Covid-19, has a slight fever but is stable, authorities at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, said on Thursday.
Dr BS Chavan, director-cum-principal, GMCH, said the patient had been put on symptomatic treatment, which involved medical therapy affecting only the symptoms, not the cause.
In Panchkula, a 21-year-old man of Sector 7, who travelled in the same flight as the patient, who landed in Amritsar from England on March 15, and a 17-year-old boy and his mother, 40, who provided salon services to her on her return, have also been tested for the virus. They are in the isolation ward of Panchkula’s civil hospital in Sector 6.
All results are awaited.
Meanwhile, the street comprising 18 houses in Sector 21, where the confirmed patient lives, was sealed on Thursday afternoon. The entire area and its vicinity was sanitised by the UT administration.
PRIMARY, SECONDARY CONTACTS ISOLATED
Another co-passenger of the patient, her gardener and his family, and another person, who came in contact with her, have been traced and quarantined.
“Two more persons, one in Punjab’s Mohali and another in Haryana’s Panchkula, have been quarantined at their homes, and their information has been conveyed to the respective state surveillance units,” GMCH officials said.
Similar information was also forwarded regarding the woman’s driver and his family, who reside in Zirakpur, Punjab, and about her father’s showroom in Mohali.
“Information about secondary contacts, including those who came in contact with her brother, who travelled to Delhi with some friends, stayed at a friend’s place and held a meeting with three Delhi residents, has also been shared with the Delhi State Surveillance Unit. In all 12 contacts of the patient, 70 secondary contacts (contacts of her father and brother) and 37 other secondary contacts (contacts of patient’s primary contacts) have been traced. Needful action has been taken in line with the central government’s guidelines,” officials said.
Dr Gagandeep Singh Grover, state programme officer, integrated disease surveillance program, Punjab, said the Air India flight that the woman took had 83 other passengers. “Of these, 62 are from Punjab and remaining from other states. They have been told to observe strict home quarantine,” Dr Grover added.
“The woman shared that she did not stop anywhere on her way from Amritsar to Chandigarh,” he said.
TESTING FACILITY AT GMCH
Dr BS Chavan said they had written to the Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR) to start a testing facility for coronavirus at GMCH. “We have the basic infrastructure, so reagents have been sought. We are awaiting their response,” he said.
SIX NEW SUSPECTED PATIENTS QUARANTINED IN CHANDIGARH
As many as six people were quarantined at Chandigarh hospitals on Thursday. Their samples have been sent to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
In Chandigarh, a female local with travel history to the UK; a Zirakpur boy who returned from Canada, a Nayagaon man who travelled to UAE, and a young male resident of Mohali, with travel history to Dubai, have been quarantined at PGIMER. Besides, a young male and a female resident of Mohali were sampled for Covid-19 at GMCH-32.
Another male patient was tested at Mohali’s civil hospital. His sample was also sent to PGIMER. The results are awaited. In Panchkula, besides the boy and his mother, who came in contact with the Chandigarh patient, and her male co-passenger, another man was tested at the civil hospital in Sector 6.
The 24-year-old man, a resident of Mansa Devi Complex, had travelled to Dharamshala recently. All four reports are awaited, said Dr Jasjeet Kaur, Panchkula civil surgeon.
