Five persons who were charged with attacking a health department team in Moradabad on April 15 have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Eighteen persons were arrested in connection with the attack. As they all hailed from a COVID-19 hotspot, their samples were taken in jail and sent to a government lab in Lucknow. The report has come today [Tuesday] and five of them have tested positive,” said M.C. Garg, Chief Medical Officer, Moradabad. “The police personnel and other staff who came in contact with them have been quarantined.”
The 18 persons, including seven women, were arrested for allegedly attacking health workers who had gone to the Nawabpura area in the city to take family members of a COVID-19-positive patient into isolation. They hurled stones at an ambulance, injuring a doctor and three paramedics, and also damaged a police vehicle in the process.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath termed the attack “unpardonable” and said those behind it will face action under the National Security Act.
On Tuesday, three more persons succumbed to the contagion, taking the total number of deaths in Moradabad to five. According to a health department official, the district has 73 COVID-19-positive cases.
