PUNE: A 33-year-old resident of a township on Sinhagad Road tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infection here on Thursday.
He had returned from the US on March1and was quarantined at Naidu Hospital on Wednesday with cough, fever and cold. “His close contacts are being traced to screen and rule out the infection,” a civic health official said.
“He had gone to the US with some work-related assignment. We are gathering information about how he travelled from Mumbai to Pune. We will have to track every person he came in contact ever since his return from the US,” the official said.
Five of the six persons from the city who tested positive for Covid-19 are residents of the Sinhagad Road area. Three Pimpri Chinchwad residents are currently quarantined at YCM Hospital after testing positive for the contagion.
Coronavirus outbreak live updates
Earlier, four members of a group that had visited Dubai tested positive for the contagion on March 9 and 10. All of them — a couple, their 23-year-old daughter and another man — are residents of Sinhagad Road. A private cab driver, who had ferried the couple and their daughter from Mumbai to Pune on their return on March 1, also tested positive for the contagion on Tuesday.
Two more persons — one in Thane and another in Mumbai — with recent history of international travel to France and Dubai also tested positive for the contagion on Wednesday. The Mumbai man (64), currently admitted to Hinduja hospital with the contagion, had also travelled to Dubai. “He was not a part of the 40-member group who visited Dubai between February 23 and February 29,” a state health official said. Nine co-travellers of the Dubai group have so far tested positive for the contagion in Pune (4), Pimpri Chinchwad (3) and Mumbai (2).
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Thursday said 44 citizens who had come in contact with the patients that tested positive for novel coronavirus, had tested negative for the contagion. The persons were screened by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the last couple of days.
A review meeting to check the spread of novel coronavirus and the measures taken to contain it was held at PMC on Thursday, which was attended by the elected members and civic officials. “The 44 people were located and contacted. It is good news that all of them tested negative,” Mohol said.
He said the PMC had created facilities to quarantine 250 people. The civic administration will not disclose locations of the quarantine facilities to prevent panic among the nearby residents.
“The 44 people who came in contact with Covid-19 patients were screened and tested. The results of the tests came late at night on Wednesday,” Ramchandra Hankare, head of PMC’s health department, said.
Masks not must in schools
Some private schools in the city have made it mandatory for students to wear masks and carry sanitizers. If the students fail to do so, they are not allowed to enter schools. Municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said the civic administration had not given any orders in this regard and that it was the decision of the respective schools. “As a precautionary measure, some schools might have taken such steps. But, it is not a mandate. We will issue orders to stop such compulsions,” he said.
He had returned from the US on March1and was quarantined at Naidu Hospital on Wednesday with cough, fever and cold. “His close contacts are being traced to screen and rule out the infection,” a civic health official said.
“He had gone to the US with some work-related assignment. We are gathering information about how he travelled from Mumbai to Pune. We will have to track every person he came in contact ever since his return from the US,” the official said.
Five of the six persons from the city who tested positive for Covid-19 are residents of the Sinhagad Road area. Three Pimpri Chinchwad residents are currently quarantined at YCM Hospital after testing positive for the contagion.
Coronavirus outbreak live updates
Earlier, four members of a group that had visited Dubai tested positive for the contagion on March 9 and 10. All of them — a couple, their 23-year-old daughter and another man — are residents of Sinhagad Road. A private cab driver, who had ferried the couple and their daughter from Mumbai to Pune on their return on March 1, also tested positive for the contagion on Tuesday.
Two more persons — one in Thane and another in Mumbai — with recent history of international travel to France and Dubai also tested positive for the contagion on Wednesday. The Mumbai man (64), currently admitted to Hinduja hospital with the contagion, had also travelled to Dubai. “He was not a part of the 40-member group who visited Dubai between February 23 and February 29,” a state health official said. Nine co-travellers of the Dubai group have so far tested positive for the contagion in Pune (4), Pimpri Chinchwad (3) and Mumbai (2).
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Thursday said 44 citizens who had come in contact with the patients that tested positive for novel coronavirus, had tested negative for the contagion. The persons were screened by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in the last couple of days.
A review meeting to check the spread of novel coronavirus and the measures taken to contain it was held at PMC on Thursday, which was attended by the elected members and civic officials. “The 44 people were located and contacted. It is good news that all of them tested negative,” Mohol said.
He said the PMC had created facilities to quarantine 250 people. The civic administration will not disclose locations of the quarantine facilities to prevent panic among the nearby residents.
“The 44 people who came in contact with Covid-19 patients were screened and tested. The results of the tests came late at night on Wednesday,” Ramchandra Hankare, head of PMC’s health department, said.
Masks not must in schools
Some private schools in the city have made it mandatory for students to wear masks and carry sanitizers. If the students fail to do so, they are not allowed to enter schools. Municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said the civic administration had not given any orders in this regard and that it was the decision of the respective schools. “As a precautionary measure, some schools might have taken such steps. But, it is not a mandate. We will issue orders to stop such compulsions,” he said.
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