Corporator visits NMC even as family member tests +ve

Nagpur: In alleged violation of 14-day home quarantine norm to be followed by high-risk contacts of Covid-19 positive persons, a corporator visited the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), interacted with office-bearers and staffers.
He visited the NMC head office on Friday, within few hours of receiving Covid-19 positive report for one of his immediate family members. The corporator, a resident of Central Nagpur, also held a press conference along with one of two top NMC office-bearers and woman corporators at the NMC office.
NMC sources told TOI that the corporator along with his 14 family members had got tested for Covid-19 on Thursday. “Testing was done after doctor of one of the brothers of the corporator had tested positive. At around 11am, corporator received reports of all 15. One of the family members tested positive while remaining, including the corporator, were negative,” said the sources.
On Saturday evening, the corporator took to social media to inform that five more from his family have tested positive.
Earlier, if high-risk contacts of positive patients tested negative the NMC used to send them to 14-day institutional quarantine. Tests were done after completion of 14-day quarantine. Many had tested positive in second tests. After cases started increasing in city, the NMC allowed home quarantine from last week of July.
NMC additional municipal commissioner Ram Joshi said, “As per guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research, high-risk contacts are advised to be in 14-day home quarantine if tested negative. With increase in cases and limited staff with NMC, it is not possible to monitor high-risk contacts. Our top priority is testing all high-risk patients,” he said.
According to the corporator, the family member who tested positive was at his sister’s house for the last five days. “I returned home from the NMC and admitted my family member to one of the hospitals. Since then, I along with other family members are in home quarantine. I have even locked my house’s gate so that no one can come inside,” he said.
Sources in NMC said swab samples of 15 family members were collected at a location near the corporator’s house where all including the woman who tested positive were present.
TOI on August 22 had reported about family members of few Covid positive shopkeepers who did not get tested and continued to keep their shops open. One of the positive family members was in shop. Another family member was also in shop when his positive report arrived.