Ghaziabad man tests positive for coronavirus, third case in NCR

The Ghaziabad officials said that they are also waiting test reports of three more persons — including a 20-year-old man — who was in close contact with a Delhi-based man who tested positive for coronavirus on March 2.

A 57-year-old businessman, who has a travel history from Tehran, Iran, has tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and is undergoing treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, officials of Ghaziabad health department said on Thursday.

People wear masks following multiple positive cases of coronavirus in the country, in Ghaziabad, March 05, 2020. (Sakib Ali / HT Photo)

They added that the man had returned from Tehran on February 23, but the officials received information about his trip only on March 2, after which he was admitted to a hospital in Delhi as he developed symptoms of headache and fever.

The state ministry of health & family welfare late on Thursday evening confirmed in a statement that the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 stood at 30, which includes three from Delhi-NCR — two of who had a travel history from Italy and one with travel history of Iran.

The Ghaziabad officials said that they are also waiting test reports of three more persons — including a 20-year-old man — who was in close contact with a Delhi-based man who tested positive for the disease on March 2.

“The reports of the 57-year-old businessman received from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Thursday confirmed him to be positive for coronavirus infection. He travelled back to India on February 23 and we received information about his travel from state officials on the night of March 2. After this we traced his address to Vijay Nagar but we were told that he no longer lived there. So, we tracked him down to a residential highrise, where he lived with his wife and son,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer (CMO).

“His sample was taken and sent for testing on March 3 and on the afternoon of March 4 he was shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi after he developed symptoms of headache and fever. We have quarantined his two family members at home as well as three staff members who worked at his office in Ghaziabad. They are being kept under close surveillance,” CMO added.

The UP state surveillance official said apart from the Ghaziabad resident, samples of six other cases have been sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

“We have six other cases in UP, beside that of the Ghaziabad resident whose samples have been sent to NIV, Pune. We received information of the businessman and his travel history on March 1 and forwarded it to Ghaziabad officials. They immediately took up surveillance, tracked him down and took his samples for testing,” said Dr Vikasendu Agarwal, state surveillance officer.

The Ghaziabad health department teams are also trying to trace other people with whom the businessman came in contact after travelling back to India.

The officials said that so far they have sent 11 samples for testing, out of which seven have come back negative, while reports of three others was awaited. The 11 samples also include the positive report of the 57-year-old businessman.

“The test report of a 20-year-old from Ghaziabad is also awaited. He had been in close contact with a Delhi-based man who had a travel history to Italy and found positive,” the CMO added.