The number of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) affected patients increased to 40 in Uttarakhand on Friday with the State health department reporting three new cases of the disease. Out of these new patients, two are from Dehradun while one is from Nainital district. In Dehradun, the health authorities reported a patient who is a nine month old baby which makes him the youngest patient in the state. One female officer posted in Military Hospital (MH) Dehradun has also been found positive for the disease on the day.
It is learnt that the lady doctor of Army had returned to Dehradun on April 10 after attending a training in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
On April 15, she got herself examined at the Medical Hospital (MH), Dehradun after symptoms of the disease appeared. On the basis of travel history and symptoms, the doctors there took a swab sample of her for test of COVID-19 which was found positive on Friday.
As per the reports, many officers had attended the training with this lady officer and the health department has sent information about her to the military authorities. Efforts are being made to trace the people with whom this lady officer had came into contact. This officer is now kept in isolation at MH Dehradun.
The nine month old baby found positive on the day is son of a Mowazeen (attendant) of a mosque in Bhagat Singh colony of Dehradun who also is a patient of COVID-19. In this mosque some Tablighi Jamaat followers had stayed out of whom seven persons including the Imam of mosque and father of child have been found positive for the disease.
The swab samples of mother of the child and seven other siblings have been found negative for the disease.
The third case of the disease was reported from Nainital district when a person kept in quarantine in mosque in Ramnagar town was found positive for the disease. On Friday he was shifted to isolation ward of Medical College Haldwani.
The director general (DG) state health services, Dr Amita Upreti said that reports of samples of 202 suspected patients of the disease were received by the department till 5 pm on Friday out of them three were found positive for the disease.
She said that reports of 371 samples are still awaited. Upreti added that a total 2831 samples of suspected patients of the disease have so far been taken for COVID-19 test in the labs of the state. On Friday, the authorities took samples of 227 suspected patients for COVID-19 test
The officer informed that 1848 people are kept in institutional quarantine and 541 suspected patients are in hospital isolation in different parts of the state. A total of 63313 people are kept under home quarantine in different parts of the state.