The COVID positive patients comprising of 212 names along with their residential details dated June 18 in the Kalyan - Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has gone viral on various WhatsApp groups. At a time when different government agencies are taking utmost care in protecting the identities of COVID-19 positive patients and regular instructions being issued by the state health ministry considering the safety of their family and avoiding panic, the KDMC on the contrary has completely gone for a toss in maintaining the secrecy of these COVID positive patients reported in their jurisdiction.
After receiving a lot of flak, the KDMC Mayor Vinita Rane has demanded action against the person who is responsible for this leakage. Rane told the Free Press Journal, "I have already asked the Chief Medical officer to lodge a cyber compliant. As per the routine exercise after coronavirus cases started being reported in KDMC on a daily basis to three different departments the list of COVID-19 positive patients is sent to Local Police Stations, DCP office and the KDMC PRO. Only the cyber police can now probe that who has circulated the list unofficially."
When contacted on the issue of how the names of COVID-19 patients had been disclosed, KDMC Commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi responded through a text message only stating "not allowed." He did not provide further comment when asked whether any action had been initiated since the list was doing the rounds on WhatsApp.
As of now in KDMC there are a total of 236 COVID-19 positive patients. While on June 18, 68 positive patients had succumbed.