Five people of a family including a five-year-old have tested positive to the Sars-Cov-2 pathogen that causes coronavirus disease, a health official of Sangli district in Maharashtra said on Wednesday. Four people from the same family who returned from a visit to Saudi Arabia had earlier tested positive.
Sangli, a district in central-western Maharashtra, has reported nine cases.
The district’s civil surgeon Dr Sanjay Salunkhe confirmed the fresh cases.
“The five cases of Covid-19 are from the same family as the early four. The early four members had travelled to Saudi Arabia and these five are the first contacts of the four members. Among the five is a 5-year-old girl. All of them are stable and admitted to the district hospital in Miraj,” Dr Salunkhe said,
Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope tweeted that the fresh five cases have raised the count of Covid-19 patients in the state to 116.
Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said the authorities had sent 830 samples for testing. Of this, 737 have come out negative which is over 90% of the samples and is a good sign.
“Currently there are 42 positive cases in the division,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Currently there are 42 positive cases in the division,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Health minister Tope said 14 people who had tested positive earlier had recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals.
The government, concerned at reports that some clinics and chemists had shut down in wake of the lockdown, has told them to stay open.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, state Congress President and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and Rajesh Tope appealed to the people to celebrate Gudi Padva -- the traditional new year festival -- indoors on Wednesday while taking all precautions in view of Covid-19 scare.