COVID-19: 700 employees quarantined after colleague tests positive in Delhi
An employee of a Noida-based leather manufacturing unit was infected with the novel coronavirus and the factory was fumigated and sanitised, a medical officer in Uttar Pradesh said. However, around 700 other employees of the same unit have been kept under home quarantine, said the officials.
In a sign of how seriously the coronavirus menace is being viewed, it has been found that around 700 employees of a leather manufacturing unit in Noida have been quarantined, at their respective homes, following the infection of just one staff. Also, the entire unit was fumigated and sanitised, said a medical officer.
The 46-year-old patient had a travel history to Switzerland and Italy, where the COVID-19 infection is spreading at a fast pace leaving one-third of the population under lockdown.
UP chief medical officer Anurag Bhargav said that the patient, a resident of Delhi, has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital and that his condition is stable.
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The news comes in the midst of the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases climbing to 78 in India and the government suspending all non-essential visas to the country till April 15..
The Centre has urged the public to avoid mass gatherings, where chances of contracting the virus are high.
The Delhi government has also banned all sporting activities in the region which will host over 200 people in the gathering, including Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches until further notice “for the purpose of prevention and control of the outbreak of the epidemic disease, COVID-19”.
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Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said, “Thousands will come for these events, from all over. There is no way to know who is coming, where they are coming from and no way to control their arrival. It takes only one person to spread this disease, to be a carrier.”
The financial markets in the country have also been severely affected by the deadly virus outbreak with the trade halting for more than 45 minutes on Friday morning and airlines cancelling their flights.