Pune: 87 people who came in contact with COVID-19 patient

As many as 87 people, including some anganwadi workers, who came in contact with a 41-year-old woman diagnosed with COVID-19 have been home quarantined in Maharashtra's Pune district, a health official said on Tuesday.

The woman, who is also an anganwadi (state-run woman and child care centre) worker in Panshet region of Velha tehsil, is admitted to a city-based hospital and continues to be on ventilator support due to respiratory failure, he said.

She tested positive for COVID-19 earlier after her throat swabs were sent to the National Institute of Virology to check for the possibility of swine flu (H1N1).

Her five close relatives - son, husband, sister, sister's husband and the latter's daughter - also tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, the official said.

 

"She attended a meeting of anganwadi workers in Velha on March 7 and 8. After Holi, she visited a doctor as she had cough and other complaints and later she was admitted to Bharti Hospital," a senior official from the district administration said.

All the anganwadi workers who attended the meeting work in different villages of the Velha tehsil.

"Several teams of health officials have tracked down the anganwadi workers who were sitting close to the woman during the meeting and they have been quarantined," the official said.

So far, at least 87 people, including some children, their parents and anganwadi workers, have been quarantined at their respective homes in different villages in Velha tehsil as a precautionary measure, he added.