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Not sure Bapu Dham party information was authentic: GMCH doctor to police
Earlier hospital director-principal Dr BS Chavan had said the patient had hosted 123 people at his wedding anniversary party on his rooftop in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26
The community medicine department head at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, treating the 30-year-old Covid positive OT attendant of the hospital, has told the police that the patient’s contact list, which features 123 names, includes people whom he had met in the weeks preceding his infection.
His statement comes 10 days after hospital director-principal Dr BS Chavan said that the patient had picked up the infection outside the hospital, and had hosted 123 people at his wedding anniversary party on his rooftop in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26.
In response to police queries, the community medicine department head said in a written statement, “The OT attendant at the GMCH-32 was found corona positive on April 24. Some of his neighbours commented that the party was organised either on April 17 or 23. However, we are not sure that it is authentic information.”
Earlier, Dr Chavan’s disclosure had sent the UT administration and police in a tizzy, prompting UT administrator VP Singh Badnore to order an inquiry into the matter and also directing director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Baniwal to initiate criminal proceedings against the patient for violating curfew orders and not observing social distancing norms.
Official explanation regarding lapses on their part is awaited from Sector 26 station house officer (SHO) Narinder Patial and deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Dilsher Singh Chandel, even as the Bapu Dham police post in-charge Gurmeet Singh has been replaced.
‘HOUSE NOT BIG ENOUGH TO HOST OVER 100 PEOPLE’
On inspecting the patient’s neighbourhood, senior cops found that he lived with 19 family members in a house built on a little over a marla (27 square yards).
“The rooftop where the party is being claimed to have taken place is 9 feet by 30 feet in size. It cannot accommodate more than 100 guests,” said a senior official, familiar to the matter, requesting anonymity.
So far, 43 people from the OT attendant’s contact list have been tested positive in Bapu Dham Colony. The area has been declared an “affected pocket”, with just one entry and exit point, which is being manned by the police.
