Indian-origin doctor from Canada tests positive for COVID-19, kept in Lucknow

A 35-year-old Indian-origin doctor from Canada, who came to visit her relatives here, has been tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the KGMU and her samples have been sent to Pune’s National Institute of Virology for reconfirmation, a senior doctor said on Thursday (March 12).

She has been kept in an isolation ward while her husband, who had accompanied her, has also been tested but has been found to be negative in the two tests conducted on him, Professor D Himanshu of King Georges Medical Universitys Medicine Department said.

The 35-year-old doctor of Indian origin is based in Toronto, Canada and had arrived here on March 8. She was tested positive on Wednesday night and her samples have been sent for reconfirmation to NIV, Dr Himanshu said.

Though she did not show any symptoms during screening at the Lucknow airport, she developed fever and cough later and contacted the doctors at KGMU, he said. The doctors are also identifying those who had interacted with her between March 8 and 11 and they will all be tested, he added. “Her husband is also under observation in the hospital but he will be discharged by evening today,” Dr Himanshu said.

KGMU spokesman Dr Sandip Tiwari said a total of 300 samples from across the state have been tested in the lab in KGMU hospital and besides the seven cases of Agra, the latest case of the Canadian doctor has been found to be positive.

A total of 20 samples belonging to suspected cases in Lucknow have been tested and all barring the doctor have tested negative, Dr Tiwari added. The number of coronavirus patients in India has risen to 73 with 13 fresh cases, including nine from Maharashtra and one each from Delhi, Ladakh, and Uttar Pradesh as well as one foreign national, according to the Union Health Ministry.