Coronavirus in Noida: Three children among six under scanner

NOIDA: Six residents — members of two families including three children — were screened for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and quarantined on Tuesday after it came to light that they had attended a birthday party hosted by a Delhi man who tested positive on Monday.
As the news spread, Shriram Millennium School, where the three children study along with the two kids of the Delhi patient, informed parents that it would shut down from Wednesday to Friday (March 4-6) due to precautions suggested by the Gautam Budh Nagar the chief medical officer (CMO), Anurag Bhargava.

Shiv Nadar School followed suit, announcing closure till March 10. Father Agnel School, too, issued an advisory to parents that it would remain closed for nursery and KG classes till further notice.
Swab samples, meanwhile, were taken from all six residents who attended the February 28 party at Delhi’s Hyatt Regency hotel. Their test results are expected on Wednesday. While they were referred to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida by the CMO, they chose to remain at home and in quarantine. They are under observation of the district health department.
“A person from Delhi who travelled from Italy returned to India on February 22. He organised a birthday party for his son at Hyatt hotel on Friday, which was attended by six people from Noida. As the person fell ill at the party and tested positive for coronavirus, the people from Noida have been quarantined and swab samples taken from them,” said Bhargava.
While the medical teams from the health department sanitised the premises of Shriram Millennium School, the officials said that the classrooms and the school buses that the children had travelled in were also being fumigated. Parents of other children who may have come in contact with them have also been informed and are under surveillance.
“We have sanitised the school with formalin vapour and it is safe now. We are vigilant and observing all precautions, which include daily scanning of people travelling to and from abroad,” said Bhargava.
District magistrate B N Singh dismissed rumours of mass closure of schools. “We have not asked any school to shut. If it has, it is its internal decision,” he said.
Singh added that Shriram Millennium School has been replaced as a board exam centre by St. Joseph’s School in Alpha 1 sector of Greater Noida.
Till Tuesday, GIMS had collected 44 samples of suspected cases, all of which were negative. “Till Sunday, 340 people had been screened,” added Dr D K Gupta, director, GIMS, said. All samples were sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Meanwhile, the sale of masks went up in the local markets of the city.
“Residents are thronging the market. While the N95 mask is not available, other categories of normal masks have disappeared from the shops. On Tuesday, I attended over 50 calls with queries on their availability,” Anoop Khanna, president of the district chemist association, said, adding that manufacturers have hiked the price of masks from Rs 140 to Rs 500.
With more than 200 South Korean nationals working in G B Nagar, the district health department has issued an advisory to the industries department to screen all visitors, especially from China, South Korea, Iran, Japan, Italy, Singapore and Afghanistan.
Helpline numbers have been circulated regarding any queries and complaints related to coronavirus, the DM said. The city has a quarantine facility with 10 beds at GIMS and eight beds for children under 16 years of age at the Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital and Post-Graduate Training Institute in Sector 30.