Societies provides health dept with list of Chinese residents

Residential societies of Noida and Greater Noida are providing a list of people who have returned from China in the month of January as well Chinese nationals living

Residential societies of Noida and Greater Noida are providing a list of people who have returned from China in the month of January as well Chinese nationals living in the neighbourhood to the health department, after they were asked to conduct a survey to identify potential carriers of coronavirus.

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On Wednesday, residents of Grand Omaxe in Sector 93B provided a list of 22 Chinese nationals who are residing in their society so that the health department can ascertain if any of them are showing symptoms of the highly contagious disease that originated in Wuhan, China, and has claimed over 1,300 lives so far.

Residents’ welfare association of Mahagun Moderne in Sector 78 has provided a list of around 15 Chinese families residing there. Officials have completed the surveillance of around 12 persons who have returned from China recently.

“Residential societies are providing us the list of Chinese nationals living in their areas and those who have recently returned from China. We have completed our surveillance of identified persons at Mahagun Moderne society. A team has gone to Grand Omaxe from where we have got a list of around 22 Chinese nationals residing there. We have requested all societies to help us identify people who are at a risk of contracting the virus,” Anurag Bhargava, chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

Federation of Noida and Greater Noida Apartment Owners Association has asked all high-rises in sectors 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 and 79 to inform the health department about high-risk category persons.

“There are 15 Chinese families in Mahagun Moderne society and 14 had gone to China to celebrate the Chinese New Year (January 25). We have also asked all societies attached with us to take precautions to avoid the infection,” Sandeep Chauhan, president, Federation of Noida and Greater Noida Apartment Owners Association, said.

“We have been visiting all the societies where foreign nationals are residing and following up on the addresses we received from the state government,” Ajay Verma, district malaria officer, who is heading the team in Noida, said.

Abhishek Pathak, Marcomm Head, Mahagun Group, said, “We have instructed our maintenance staff to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. The threat of coronavirus is real and we have to be alert at all times.”

“We have around 22 Chinese nationals in our societies. We have visited them and asked if they have any symptoms of the virus. Until now, nobody has been infected. A team of health department has visited our society to follow up on the list provided by us,” PVS Prakash, president of Grande Omaxe association of apartment owners, said.

In another incident, health officials had to call police while checking two cross-references at Paras Tierea society in Sector 137, after they were stopped by guards from entering the society. “We were stopped from entering Paras Tierea society following which we had take the help of the police in convincing them that the surveillance is important for the well being of all as coronavirus is deadly and contagious,” Bhargava said.

According to the health officials, over 350 persons have been identified and surveillance of around 300 persons have been completed. Officials have taken samples of 21 persons as a precautionary measure, out of which 11 samples have tested negative for the disease.