Three more test positive for Covid-19 in Gautam Budh Nagar, district’s tally now at 17

Three more people tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Gautam Budh Nagar on Friday taking the tally of virus-infected cases in the district to seventeen.

Three more people tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Gautam Budh Nagar on Friday taking the tally of virus-infected cases in the district to seventeen. The three persons are directly or indirectly linked to an infected British national, officials said.

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With the three new cases, at least nine cases found positive for the virus, eight in Gautam Budh Nagar and one in Ghaziabad, can be traced back to the Briton till now.

A 36-year-old man, resident of Omicron Sector in Greater Noida, who worked in the office of a portable fire extinguisher company in Sector 135 was found positive on Friday. The British national had visited the company during his three-day stay in India.

On Thursday, the 55-year-old mother and 33-year-old wife of another employee of the same company also tested positive for the virus. However, the employee has tested negative for Covid-19. Health department officials said they will send his samples for tests again to be on completely sure. The family lives in a high rise in Sector 137, Noida.

A resident of Sector 44, is also suspected to have Covid-19. The man had got himself tested for the infection at a private lab and was tested positive on Friday in the private lab’s reports. However, the district health officials have collected his sample to get it tested and confirm the results of the private lab.

“Three more persons who came in direct or indirect contact with the British national have been found positive for Covid-19,” Dr Anurag Bhargava, chief medical officer (CMO), Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

Health department officials have sealed the societies where the two families live for two days and all the residents have been asked to stay under home quarantine. The buildings and the common areas of the respective societies will now be sanitised by the health deaprtment.

“We will be sanitising both the societies in Greater Noida and Sector 137 where the Covid-19 positive patients live. The societies will be sealed for two days as per the orders of the district magistrate. We are following the protocol during the sanitisation procedure and putting residents under home quarantine to stop the infection from spreading,” Prasoon Dwivedi, sub-divisional magistrate, said.

The British national was in Noida from March 15 to March 17. Officials are tracing all the persons who came in contact with the man and are also trying to figure out his whereabouts in London.

Earlier this week, five persons, were found positive for coronavirus in Noida. On Tuesday, a couple, who lives in Sector 137 as well, was found positive, while their 19-year-old daughter was found positive on Thursday. A couple living in Sector 150, Noida was also found positive on Thursday. In both the cases, the husbands had come in contact with the Briton at the office of the fire extinguisher company in Sector 135 where both of them are employed.

A 30-year-old man, resident of Shalimar Garden in Ghaziabad, who was also found positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. The man is also an employee of the fire extinguisher company that runs out of Sector 135.

On Thursday, officials had sealed the hotel in Sector 135 where the British national had stayed during his visit to Noida. The person had flown down from London to do an audit of the fire extinguisher company. The staff of the hotel has been asked to go under home quarantine.

Around 19 persons had come in direct contact with the British auditor at work and were asked to go under home quarantine . Officials had collected samples of four of these persons so far, and will now collect samples of the others who are under home quarantine and are showing some symptoms of the infection.

Till Friday evening, the health department had put at least 1,803 under surveillance and tracked 1,123 travellers. The department has so far collected 442 samples, reports of 329 samples are negative, while 17 samples tested positive. The department awaits reports of 96 samples.

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