Hospitals reel under rush of ‘suspects’

NEW DELHI: A 57-year-old man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has become the 30th person to be confirmed positive for Covid-19 in India. The number of cases is likely to rise sharply as health authorities await the results of re-confirmation tests on 23 more people whose initial tests have shown the presence of the virus.The Ghaziabad man has been quarantined at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospital . His wife and son have been put in isolation at MMG District Hospital in Ghaziabad. Besides, local authorities said, they have also advised three of his employees to remain in home isolation. Samples taken from the 23 individuals have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for final confirmation. “Many of them are likely to test positive and may require isolation too,” said a source. The health ministry said, in addition to Covid-19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission are beginning to be observed, indicating that the virus may be spreading undetected in local communities. Therefore, the ministry said that states have been asked to form rapid response teams at the district, block and villages levels.The novel coronavirus infection has so far killed more than 3,300 people globally and infected nearly 96,000. Rapid response teams in Delhi and NCR, where a majority of Covid-19 patients are under quarantine at present, have been actively tracing everyone who may have come in contact with the infected individuals and are testing them for the virus. Across India, 3,452 samples have been sent for testing of which 29 (the Ghaziabad resident was declared as a positive case later) have been found to be positive for Covid-19 till now, the health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. “Testing of 92 samples is in process and 23 samples are being reconfirmed,” it added.In some relief for Telangana, blood samples of two persons from the state which were sent to the NIV have tested negative. “All new Covid-91 patients are stable,” Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said. The 30 cases recorded so far include 16 Italian tourists from a single group.The list also includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. All three have been discharged following recovery.On Thursday, around 150 persons turned up for Covid-19 test at RML hospital, the only centre equipped to take samples for the virus in Delhi-NCR. Most of them had come in contact with the infected persons.A 26-year-old Paytm employee, a resident of Janakpuri in west Delhi, was confirmed positive on Wednesday. His wife, who works in an American asset management company in CyberHub, Gurgaon, has been quarantined at her home. The Gurgaon district administration has screened 91 Paytm employees working on the same floor as the patient. Of these, 71 live in Gurgaon, 18 in Delhi, one each in Faridabad and Noida, sources said.More than 405 persons who travelled to countries affected by Covid-19 recently are under watch in Noida. The authorities said they are being sent to RML for testing.“We are under a lot of pressure because the number of persons coming for tests has increased manifold, with more confirmed cases being identified and an increased need to test anyone who has come in their contact,” said a doctor at the central government-run hospital.Government sources said sample testing facility has been started at 31 new places across the country, in addition to the 51 existing facilities. With this, the pressure on hospitals such as Safdarjung is likely to ease soon.To scale up facilities for isolation of suspected and positive cases of Covid19, the health ministry and the Niti Aayog had talks with representatives of all major private hospital chains on Thursday. V K Paul, member, Niti Aayog, told TOI that the private hospitals have agreed to create facilities. “We need to be prepared for the worse while doing our best to contain the disease,” Paul said.In Delhi, sources said, six private hospitals — Max super specialty, BLK, Apollo, Action Balaji, Sir Ganga Ram and St Stephen's hospital — have already created isolation wards. In Gurgaon, Medanta Medicity has created a separate unit for isolation of Covid-19 cases. The 14 Italian patients are admitted there.P K Mishra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, also chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to review preparedness and response on the coronavirus issue. It was highlighted that participation of the communities and local bodies is essential to combat the public health posed by the virus, the PMO said.Deputy CM Manish Sisodia announced that all primary schools in the capital will remain closed till March 31.