A stubborn COVID-19 patient in Ranjangaon, a village near Pune, has proved to be troublesome as he insists on maintaining secrecy about his movements after he tested positive for the virus. Now, the local authorities are trying to trace his contacts, reported Pune Mirror.
This comes at a time when the cases are rising in the state. At least 10 teams of the district health department are tracking down people who have come in contact with the 29-year-old over the last week. The authorities are trying to curb the spread of the virus in and around Ranjangaon - which has remained safe from the virus so far.
The man, apparently, had been unwell and was roaming around and even ate at several restaurants in Pune. What's worse, he even attended a birthday party, a wedding ceremony, and a few parties during this period. He is now refusing to give out any details of the same.
He is undergoing treatment at Kashibai Navale Hospital in Narwe. The man who is a photographer by profession had developed flu-like symptoms since June 20 and was taking medicines from a private hospital in Ranjangaon. Well, the officals have been urging the public to isolate themselves if they see such symptoms, but the man decided to venture out of the house.
Dr RD Shinde, Taluka Medical Officer, told Mirror, "The man is simply not ready to cooperate and share his travel history with us. For this reason, it has become difficult to track down his contacts to quarantine and test them if needed. It’s uncommon. We are now taking his family members and other contacts into confidence to find out where all he has visited since last weekend.”
Later, he realised that his condition was not getting any better and hence he visited a primary health centre in Ranjangaon. He was suspected to be positive and was immediately rushed to district COVID-19 care centre in Wagholi and his swabs were sent for testing. He was tested positive and was shifted to Navale hospital. There hasn't been a single case in Ranjangaon till date.
The officials said that they have now managed to quarantine 36 people the patient out of which 16 are high-risk and 20 low-risk contacts. Samples of the high-risk contacts have been sent for testing including seven family members, five staffers from the private hospital he was seeking treatment, and four non-family members.
Pune district health officer Dr Bhagwan Pawar said that their work has been increased as the patient is refusing to share his travel history.
Pune district reported 787 novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking its COVID-19 count to 19,027, a health official said on Friday.
The death toll reached 674 with 19 succumbing to the infection during this period, he said, while 331 persons were discharged after recovery.
"Of the 787 cases, 606 are in Pune city limits, which now has 14,926 patients. The number of cases in Pimpri Chinchwad is 2,550 while it 1,548 in rural and cantonment areas," he added.
Maharashtra on Friday recorded a single-day highest increase of 5,024 coronavirus cases which took the tally of cases in the state to 1,52,765, while the the death toll rose to 7,106 with 175 new deaths.
On the other hand, 2,362 coronavirus patientswere discharged during the day, increasing the number of recovered patients to 79,815, a state health department release said.
The spike of 5,024 overtook Thursday's increase of 4,841 in the cases.
