City reports six new cases, focus fully on contact tracing

The district health team on Sunday confirmed six new cases of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), including a man who committed suicide last week after his wife

The district health team on Sunday confirmed six new cases of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), including a man who committed suicide last week after his wife tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week.

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Other positive cases have been reported from Sector 80, Ardee City Sector-52, Basai Enclave and Islampur village, taking the total tally of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 to 73, of which 44 have been discharged and 29 are undergoing treatment.

“The man who committed suicide last week has been confirmed Covid-19 positive. His wife was first confirmed Covid-19 positive on April 29. Next day, we took samples from the body to investigate how the lady contracted the virus. Since, the deceased is confirmed positive, we will now be tracing his history too,” chief medical officer Dr Jaswant Singh Punia said.

On April 29, a 54-year-old man died when he allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan at his house in Sector 12 hours after he was informed that his wife was Covid positive. Around a week ago, the woman was taken to a hospital after she complained of distress in her stomach. She was later referred to another hospital in Sector 9 where she was tested for Covid-19.

On Sunday, an autopsy was conducted and the body was handed over to his family.

Civil Hospital forensic expert Dr Deepak Mathur said, “Once we were informed that the deceased tested positive for the coronavirus, we took all the necessary precautions and did an autopsy. The body was sterilized after it arrived at the mortuary. We wore full body PPE suits, including gloves and masks, during the examination.”

A man who was a driver with Delhi Police, resident of Basai Enclave, also tested positive for Covid-19, Dr Punia said, adding, “We collected his sample after we were informed that the man was in contact with three Covid-19 positive patient in Delhi.”

Meanwhile, a resident of Ardee City in Sector 52, contracted Covid-19 after visiting hospitals in the city to get treated for haemorrhoids. A resident of Islampur village, who worked in a mess at the Air Force Station in Rajiv Chowk has also been tested coronavirus positive.

“We are still investigating the source of infection in a few of these cases,” Dr Punia said.