The officials of the Ghaziabad Health Department were in for a shock on Sunday when a husband and wife who were tested positive for Covid-19 by a private laboratory drove to the MMG district hospital from the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida, in their private vehicle instead of an ambulance.
GIMS director Rakesh Gupta said the incident needed to be investigated. He said the couple was referred to Ghaziabad but before the ambulance could be ready, they left the premises.
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Ghaziabad Chief Medical Officer (CMO) N.K. Gupta said: “The woman didn’t disclose the information that she works with Cease Fire and didn’t self-quarantine herself. Similarly, her husband kept socialising. We have prepared a list of 90-odd people whom the couple came in contact with. Twelve of them have been admitted to the isolation ward of the MMG district hospital.”
With the couple testing positive, Ghaziabad now has seven infected persons, including two who have already recovered, officials said.
The wife works in the HR department of Cease Fire, the fire safety firm in Noida which has been under the lens for withholding information about the U.K.-based auditor who visited the firm and stayed in Noida for three days. So far, 23 cases, directly or indirectly, have been found linked to the firm and 20 more in the chain show symptoms, according to a health department official.
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FIR against firm
Anurag Bharagav, CMO, Gautam Budh Nagar, said an FIR had been registered against the firm. “The managing director of the firm also returned from the U.K. on March 1 and remained asymptomatic for a while. He got himself tested by a private firm and has been found positive. His contact history is being traced,” said Dr. Bhargav.
According to the district health department, a list of 161 employees of Cease Fire has been prepared for screening.