33 women, girl inmates of protection home infected

Kanpur: As many as 33 women and girls living in the protection homes at Swarupnagar tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection leaving district administration officials jittery.
Among the infected, 18 inmates belong to women protection home and 15 to girls protection home.
The inmates were found infected when GSVM medical college released the reports of tests on Wednesday.
A woman was found infected in random testing and it is being presumed that she was the source of infection for others. The police barricaded the protection home and stopped entry and exit of people.
Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission took note of the development, expressed grave concern on Thursday and directed district officials to sanitize the protection home and protect other girls from infection.
UP State Women Commission member Poonam Kapoor sought a report from the district probation officer and directed him to protect the remaining inmates. At present, the girls’ protection home has more inmates than its capacity.
She asked the probation officer to direct the subordinate staff to maintain sanitation and change bedsheets daily.
Special attention should be paid since the number of girls exceeds the protection home’s capacity, said Kapoor.
She directed protection home superintendent Mithlesh Pal to provide sanitizer, masks and proper cleanliness besides getting all staff members examined and tested.
The women and girls were among the 58 persons, including two employees of Kanpur Municipal Corporation, found infected.
KMC chief Akshay Tripathi ordered sealing and sanitization of the building. Earlier, three KMC employees had tested positive. With two new cases, the number rose to five.
The municipal commissioner had called a health team a couple of days ago and as many as 50 random samples of employees had been collected.