E-Paper
GB Nagar: Six employees of media group among 21 new Covid-19 cases
Noida:
Noida:
Gautam Budh Nagar reported 21 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, taking the total number of positive cases to 345 in the district. The new patients include six employees each from the Zee Media office in Noida Sector 16 and OPPO Mobile India’s factory in Greater Noida.
On Sunday, the district health department identified 11 more Covid-19 positive cases related to OPPO. Of 11 patients, six are from Gautam Budh Nagar (GBN) while the remaining are from Chandauli, Rae Bareli, Mathura, Bulandshahr and Ghazipur districts.
Till now, a total of 21 persons have been found positive for Sars-CoV-2 infection from the Chinese mobile phone maker, of which 16 are from GBN. On May 18, nine employees of OPPO were found positive for the deadly virus, while two positive employees (from the Kasna area and Habibpur Sutyana in Greater Noida) of the company were identified on May 21.
According to the health officials, on Sunday, seven employees of Zee Media were found positive for the infection. Of the seven patients, six are from GBN while one is from Delhi. All the seven Covid-19 patients were under institutional quarantine in Noida, the officials said.
So far, a total of 39 Zee employees have been found positive for the infection. Of the 39 patients, 24 are from GBN, the officials said.
After the first case was reported from Zee on May 15, the health department had taken 51 samples of employees, of which 28 were found Covid-19 positive. In the last four days, health officials have screened 400 employees of the organization to trace close contacts of the positive patients at the Zee office in Sector 16. The entire building is being repeatedly sanitized since May 15. Besides, samples of 50 more employees who are close contacts of the positive patients are collected and they have been put under institutional quarantine. Their reports are awaited, the officials said.
On Sunday, nine more patients were identified from various areas of the district. All the patients had influenza like illness, the health officials said.
Currently, there are 110 active Covid-19 cases in GBN while 230 patients have been discharged. Five persons have died of Covid-19 in the district so far.
In the district, there are 81 containment zones, including 49 in category 1 and 32 in category 2. As per the May 18 orders of the state government, the containment zone in the urban areas will be 250 metre radius or the entire society if a single positive case is reported (category 1). A radius of 500 metre will be sealed if more than two cases are reported (category 2).
63 foreign travellers to get discharged
The quarantine facilities in GBN are getting empty following the discharge of primary and secondary contacts of positive Covid-19 patients. As per the new guidelines of the state government, only symptomatic people are supposed to be kept under institutional quarantine.
Patients from other districts are being discharged and sent back to their home districts where they will have to go under seven days of institutional quarantine followed by seven days of home quarantine.
Meanwhile, officials have started the procedure of discharging around 63 foreign travellers who are under institutional quarantine at the Galgotias University in Greater Noida. These people are being sent back to their home districts in vehicles arranged by the GB Nagar administration.
On Sunday, a 31-year-old man tried to flee from the Galgotias quarantine centre after he acquired the e-pass to go back to Jharkhand, his home state. The person works in Faridabad and lives in Noida. The man had to catch a train from Dankaur at around 4pm on Sunday and he had requested officials to complete formalities of his discharge. Officials had asked him to wait as the discharge of many other patients was going on.
Then the man tried to flee from the centre after his request for the discharge was denied for time being. However, he was noticed by the guards of the Galgotias centre after he managed to exit the centre. The police were informed about the man who immediately brought him back to the centre.
“As per the new guidelines, asymptomatic people don’t need to go under institutional quarantine if they have the required facilities at their home. We are in the process of discharging many people who are currently under quarantine at our centre. The man wanted to catch a train and had approached us to get discharged. He was asked to wait and then he tried to flee. He will be discharged soon once the formalities are completed,” said Dr Anil Gupta, in-charge, Galgotias University quarantine centre.
Guidelines for offices, industrial units, etc
The district administration has said that following the relaxation in lockdown restrictions in the district, Covid-19 cases may come up in industrial units, commercial outlets, offices and other places. Organizations are asked to inform the health department on immediate basis if any person gets infected with Covid-19 on their premises.
The officials have made it clear that the premises can reopen after the sanitisation team gives a ‘premise fitness certificate’. All persons with influenza like illness will have to be compulsorily tested for Covid-19. An undertaking will be taken from the unit or the individual ensuring that the required protocol will be followed by them.
Appropriate action will be taken against those organizations and individuals who are found not following the required protocol. The district administration officials are soon going to release a detailed information on the protocols need to be followed by the organizations and concerned individuals. The process of contact tracing will continue as it is.
