Twelve people belonging to two families, including a 45-day-old child, living in Chooriwalan area of central Delhi have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to officials.
The baby and three of these persons, who have underlying health issues such as diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease were admitted to the dedicated Covid-19 Lok Nayak hospital.
They are all stable and recovering. Most of them did not have symptoms.
The rest of the people have been admitted to Covid Care Centres, which look after patients with mild to moderate symptoms.
“From what we have learnt these are members of two different families, but their address is the same. They might be living on two different floors of the same building. We came to know of the case after the families got tested at a private clinic. We are currently assessing the area,” said Nidhi Shrivastava, district magistrate of Central Delhi.
The source of the infection is yet to be determined. One of the persons has a history of travel to Russia, before India imposed a complete ban on international travel on March 22.
Russia has so far reported 62,773 cases and 555 deaths linked to Covid-19.
Another in the group has a chronic kidney disease. Several cases of people testing positive for Covid-19 from dialysis centres across Delhi have been reported.
“We are still investigating the source of the infection,” said Shrivastava.
“This lane is already within a containment zone but we will declare it a micro-containment zone, and carry out all the measures aggressively,” said Shrivastava.
All the people in containment zones are screened for symptoms by the health care workers, and those who might have come in direct contact with patients are tested for the infection. Civic bodies carry out sanitation drives and people are not supposed to step out of their houses in these areas, with groceries and essentials being delivered to their doorstep.
On Wednesday night, the infected people gathered outside Lok Nayak hospital, demanding they be admitted, leading to some altercation with doctors.
“Only one the family members apart from the baby needed to be admitted here, but we admitted two others who had some co-morbid conditions. The others have been referred to Covid Care Centres,” said JC Passey, director, Lok Nayak hospital.
“The government has now decided that only the category III patients – who either have severe symptoms or are a at a high risk of developing such symptoms – will be admitted to the hospital. There are five levels (four excluding the dedicated hospitals) of facilities right now – the Covid testing centres where samples are collected; the isolation centres are there for those waiting for their results; Covid Care Centres in government flats etc. admit those with mild symptoms; and the Covid health centres admit those with moderate symptoms,” said Passey.
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