The number of positive coronavirus cases in Pune has now gone up to five—a couple, their three-year-old daughter, the co-passenger in their taxi and the driver have all tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said.
District collector Naval Kishore Ram told THE WEEK that initially two people— the couple—tested positive for the virus. "But now their daughter, the taxi driver and the co-passenger, who hails from Yavatmal in Maharashtra, have also tested positive. All three are under treatment. All three are stable. We now have five positive COVID-19 cases in all in Pune."
The couple had travelled from Dubai to Pune earlier this month and are presently quarantined at the Dr Naidu Infectious Disease Hospital in Pune. The couple returned on March 1 from Dubai in the company of 40 people who were part of a group tour. Their condition is stable now, with mild symptoms of COVID-19, as per the officials. "Right now, we have found symptoms of the virus only in one of the two patients. No symptoms have been found in the second patient as yet. We are trying to get more information about their travels and who all they came in contact with," said Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar to THE WEEK. Theirs is the first case of COVID-19 from Maharashtra.
At present, contact tracking and tracing is underway, that is, screening of those people who came in close contact with the couple during their tour and upon return. Their family members too, have been isolated and swab samples of the family members have been sent for testing. Along with the three family members, the cab driver who drove the couple from Mumbai airport to Pune has been admitted to Naidu hospital. The names and contact details of the 40 people who were part of the same group tour, have been shared with the respective district administration in India.
"There is no need for panic. The patients are under observation and are undergoing the necessary treatment," said Mhaisekar. "The patient with the mild symptoms first came to the doctor on March 8 when the sample turned out to be positive but because Dubai had not been included in the list of affected nations declared by the Union government, these two were not quarantined on 1st of March when they returned to India."
With the two patients in Pune, Kerala and Karnataka, the total number of confirmed cases in India has risen to 56 so far.
Mhaisekar further said that for gathering information of all those people who came in contact with these two patients, five squads have been constituted. They include officers and employees from revenue, health and police department and from both the municipal corporations. They had been assigned the job to verify whether or not the people with symptoms of coronavirus are found in the places the duo visited or among the people, whom they met. Appealing to all the doctors of the district through the Indian Medical Association (IMA), he said that the doctors should keep the information of all the patients who are coming to India from foreign lands, separately.
District magistrate Naval Kishore Ram, commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC) Shravan Hardikar, additional commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Rubal Agarwal, Joint Police Commissioner Dr Ravindra Shisve, among others were present at press conference.