Six who came in contact with coronavirus infected Delhi man test negative

The health department had collected 55 samples — including six of parents and children belonging to The Shriram Millennium School and of people who recently travelled from China, South Korea and other countries.

Six people, including three children, who had been put under observation for suspected coronavirus infection after they attended a birthday party hosted by an infected Delhi resident, have tested negative for the virus.

A view of The Shreeram Millennium School at Sector 135, in Noida. (Hindustan Times)

The health department had collected 55 samples — including six of parents and children belonging to The Shriram Millennium School and of people who recently travelled from China, South Korea and other countries. Out of the 55 samples, 49 have tested negative.

The results for the remaining will be available on Wednesday morning.

According to the officials, two Noida families — a woman and her two daughters and couple with their daughter — attended the birthday dinner at Hyatt Regency at Bhikaji Cama Place on February 28.

“The birthday party was hosted by the father of one of my daughter’s classmate who had returned from Italy on February 27. We had gone as my daughter was friends with them and they study together in The Shriram Millennium School,” said the mother whose daughters had attended the party.

Both the families were later informed by the state health ministry that the host of the party had tested positive for COVID-19.

On Monday, the children of the man who tested positive and their friends, had attended school.

“On Monday evening, we were informed that host of our party had tested positive for coronavirus. We immediately informed the school authorities,” added the mother, who has been put under observation with her daughters.

On Tuesday morning, only around 100 students turned up at the school following panic.

The health department officials reached school and started sanitizing the premises. It is going to take around two days to complete the fumigation and sanitization work and the school will be shut till March 9.

“We have put both the families under observation for 14 days and their samples have been taken for testing. Till now, none of them have shown any symptoms of the virus,” said Dr Anurag Bharagava , chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar .

“We have asked parents of all kids, who shared a classroom or bus with the children under observation, to inform us if they show any symptoms — like fever, cold, cough or breathing issues. Nobody has shown any
symptoms so far,” added Bhargava.

The board exams of The Shriram Millennium School have also been shifted to St Joseph’s School in Greater Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate, BN Singh, said on Tuesday evening. The administration has also started two helpline numbers — 8076623612 and 6396776904 — for the public.

The authorities had earlier in the day shut the school till the weekend and in an email asked parents of kids studying in five classes and children travelling in school buses on three routes to take “additional precaution and seek medical attention” in case any child reports any symptoms of cough/cold or fever.

The school refused to comment despite repeated requests.

Meanwhile, a second school in Sector 168, Shiv Nadar School, has also declared holidays till March 9 as a precautionary measure.

“We have shut the school as a precautionary measure and none of our students have been exposed to the virus,” said Pooja Sikka, head of corporate communication, Shiv Nadar School

The UP state health department has reserved 10 beds at Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and nine beds at Super Specialty Children Hospital for treatment of coronavirus patients.

“We have made all arrangements if any patient needs to be put under quarantine. We were informed that around 5-6 persons will be coming for test but all the tests have been conducted at their respective houses,” said Brig (retd) Rakesh Gupta, director, GIMS.

The health department has also issued advisory for all the schools in the district to keep an eye on children with any symptoms of the virus.

“We have taken all the required measures and there is nothing to worry about. The samples of two families have been collected and sanitization work of The Shriram Millennium School has already started. Only two schools have declared a holiday as a precautionary measure,” said the district magistrate BN Singh.