pune

Updated: Mar 16, 2020 19:43 IST

The administration has formed five teams to contact the 40 people who may have come in contact with the couple who was tested positive for novel coronavirus in the city on Monday.

Deepak Mhaisekar, Pune’s divisional commissioner, said, “Teams comprising officials of Pune Municipal Corporation, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and district police has been formed to get in touch with the persons who may have come in contact with the two Covid-19 patients after they arrived here.”

As Dubai, the city from where the affected couple arrived in Mumbai, was not on the list of coronavirus affected regions, they were not screened. Now all international passengers are screened, an official said.

The administration said 40 persons were with the couple on their trip to Dubai.

“The list of 40 people who were with the two patients has been received and respective district authorities have been told to carry out their medical examination. These people are from various districts in the state. We appeal for calm and not to reveal the identity of the patients or their workplace to protect their privacy,”

Mhaisekar said at a press briefing on Tuesday, at which district collector Naval Kishore Ram, PMC additional commissioner Rubal Agarwal and Pune police joint commissioner Ravindra Shisve were present.

The cab driver and one of the family members of the affected couple were tested positive on Tuesday. The couple was tested positive late on Monday evening. The driver had driven the couple, upon their return from Dubai to India, from the Mumbai international airport to Pune on March 1. The three family members and the driver were in isolation at Naidu hospital and their samples were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) for testing, according to officials.

Mhaisekar said that the infected husband and wife are currently stable and under observation.

“The couple who are the first reported positive case of Covid-19 in Maharashtra have been admitted to Naidu hospital along with three family members, and the driver. The couple had arrived in the country on March 1 after a 15-day visit to Dubai. They took a private cab from Mumbai airport to Pune. On March 8, one of the two started showing symptoms of infection and was referred to Naidu hospital for a check-up. Their samples were sent to NIV and tested positive.”

Currently six persons, including the five positive cases, are in the Naidu hospital isolation ward.

“Since Dubai is not in the initial list of the 19 countries from where citizens were being screened, the couple was not screened at the Mumbai airport.

“The administration had formed five teams which include officials from the revenue department, police, health, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to track and get details of the 40 people who had travelled with the couple to Dubai. The administration is also listing down people who came in contact with the couple at their workplace or the areas where they visited to keep a check on them too,” Mhaisekar said.

A senior official had said the duo started showing symptoms only on March 8 after which they approached doctors, following which their samples were sent for testing.

Meanwhile, the domestic helpers who used to work at the housing society where the affected couple reside have been told to not visit the society premises by the residents of neighbouring housing societies.

With agency inputs