The possibility of much-dreaded community transmission of the novel coronavirus in Maharashtra cannot be ruled out as health officials grapple with one case without any international travel history or link to high-risk contacts of patients.
On Saturday, Mumbai recorded the highest number of eight cases in a single day of which six have a history of international travel. The two other patients include a staff of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and a man who had travelled to Gujarat.
Of the two new cases recorded in Pune, a 41-year-old woman has no travel history or link with any contacts of positive patients. The number of patients who have tested positive in Maharashtra now stands at 64.
Dr. Anup Yadav who heads the State’s Directorate of Health Services told The Hindu that the history of contacts of the Mumbai man who had travelled to Gujarat and the Pune woman is still being probed. “There could be a possibility that one of these cases is of community transmission but we will only ascertain the same after the patients recall every possible movement. We are still in the process of establishing the linkages,” said Dr. Yadav. “As of now, we have not found any direct link of the Pune woman with a positive patient or a high-risk contact of a patient,” he said.
Health officials said that an in-depth epidemiological investigation was being carried out.
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s deputy executive health officer Dr. Daksha Shah said that they are still refraining from terming the Gujarat man as a case of community transmission. “There is no reason to panic so far. We had an expert coming down from Delhi who has also assured that we have not entered the community transmission stage so far,” said Dr. Shah adding that the patient with Gujarat travel history tested positive on Saturday afternoon and doctors were still in the process of probing his history thoroughly. Among the other patients who tested positive was one person from Yavatmal who had a travel history to Congo. While the patient has been admitted in Mumbai, he had been counted as a case from Yavatmal.
‘Don’t abandon pets’
The State helpline, meanwhile, has received a number of calls with complaints about people abandoning their pets due to the fear of COVID-19. “There is no such evidence of the virus spreading through pets. The public should not panic and abandon their pets,” State officials said.
