Two persons, who had been to the religious conclave in Delhi, had tested positive for COVID-19, said District Collector K Veera Raghava Rao here on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, he said that 41 persons from different parts of the district had been to Nizamudeen as delegates. Twenty-five among them returned, 14 stayed back in New Delhi and two were still in Chennai. After 25 persons in the district were admitted to the isolation ward here, samples were taken from 17 persons for swab test. The reports received indicated that two had tested positive.
He said as per the WHO guidelines, the residences of all the 25 persons were identified and disinfectants sprayed. As a precautionary measure, 113 family members have been quarantined. For about five kilometres, all the dwellings have been declared as ‘local containment zone’. As many as 417 health workers, supervisors and officers from multi-departments were supervising the measures.
The Collector said that 35,000 dwellings would be under strict medical surveillance for the next 14 days. The authorities in New Delhi and Chennai were informed about those who had stayed back in the respective cities, he added and clarified that the two positive-tested patients were stable.
Replying to a question, Mr. Rao said that out of 4,777 foreign returnees, 2,309 have completed 30 days home quarantine as per the Health Ministry's guidelines The remaining 2,468 persons continued to be in quarantine. There was no problem and checks by field level officers have suggested that they were fully cooperating.
The district administration would further open up few more make shift markets for the benefit of the residents. He appealed to the people to refrain from unnecessary travel. By remaining indoors, the people can break the possible virus chain and also facilitate the police to enforce the law effectively.
