Coronavirus | 57 girls in Kanpur shelter home test positive for COVID-19

‘These girls were brought from different districts of U.P. on the directions of the CWC under the POCSO Act’

Fifty-seven girl inmates of a government shelter home in Kanpur have tested positive for COVID-19 , the district administration said on Sunday.

Amid reports that some of these girls were also found to be pregnant, the administration clarified that they were recorded as pregnant on their arrival at the Rajkiya Balika Grah in Swarup Nagar.

Five girls among the positive cases were found to be pregnant, said District Magistrate Kanpur Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari. The girls were already pregnant at the time they were brought to the shelter, he added.

“These girls were brought from different districts on the directions of the CWC (child welfare committees) under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act,” said Mr. Tiwari.

The girls came from Agra, Kannauj, Firozabad, Etah and Kanpur.

Two other pregnant girls tested negative, he added.

Poonam Kapoor, State Women Commission Member, said many girls were brought to the shelter home under the POCSO Act. “They are minors, 16-17 years of age. So they are kept there,” she said.

Ms. Kapoor said that the girls were probably infected after some staff members who had gone to the Hailet hospital in Kanpur with two girls came into contact with some COVID-19 positive persons.

“Possibly the staff came in contact with someone infected due to which the infection spread in the Balika Grah,” she said.

In relation to the pregnancy cases, Ms. Kapoor dismissed the possibility of any lapses and said she inspected the shelter home every month. “Men are prohibited from going there,” she said.