Delhi delivery boy’s 16 high-risk contacts will remain under quarantine: Official

Covid-19 in Delhi: The delivery person, who tested positive on April 14, is being treated at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospital in Tahirpur.

Sixteen people, who tested negative for Covid-19 after coming in contact with an infected delivery person in Delhi, will have to remain under quarantine, an official said on Monday.

A view of a Mojo Pizza outlet where a delivery person tested coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive, in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, on Thursday, April 16, 2020. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

BM Mishra, South Delhi’s district magistrate, said they will be released from the government facility at Chhatarpur only after they finish their quarantine and test negative for Covid-19 at the end of their quarantine.

“We had identified the 16 high-risk persons linked to the delivery person from Malviya Nagar and kept them under institutional quarantine. The test results of all the 16 persons, including the owner of the food joint where the delivery boy worked, have come negative,” Mishra said.

“Also, none of the 72 low-risk contacts to whom the infected person had delivered food over the past one month have shown any Covid-19 symptoms so far. But, they will continue to be under home quarantine and are being strictly monitored,” he said.

The delivery person, who tested positive on April 14, is being treated at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospital in Tahirpur.

According to police, the delivery person was an employee of Box 8, and the pizza was from the kitchen of the adjoining restaurant MOJO Pizza, also located in the same building. Police said that apart from serving its own menu, Box 8 has a tie-up with multiple food chains.

Mishra said the delivery person was not feeling well for nearly a month and had visited several hospitals.

“He had a cough but some hospitals had dismissed it as common flu. But when he didn’t recover, he went to Safdarjung Hospital for a check-up from where he was referred to RML,” he said.

Box 8 had issued a statement on its Twitter account on April 16.

“After all precautions and vigilance, in an unfortunate turn of events, a delivery partner of our Malviya Nagar kitchen in south Delhi has tested COVID positive yesterday,” Box 8 had said.

“The delivery partner has been keeping well and getting the required medical attention. All his co-workers have been quarantined and we have shut down the Malviya Nagar kitchen in South Delhi for the next 14 days,” it said.