Bengal govt is tracking down everyone who came in contact with Kolkata teen who tested COVID-19 positive

The West Bengal government is trying to identify all those who came in contact with the teenager from Kolkata who tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The 18-year old is the son of a senior bureaucrat from the state government, a special secretary in the home department.

Since state home secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay had a meeting with the special secretary two days back, he has taken the precautionary measure of quarantining himself at home.

The special secretary’s son had gone to London for a few days, and returned on March 15. Apparently, he had no symptoms and was thus asked to remain quarantined at home for two weeks. It is not known whether he remained home or went outside. However, he went with his mother to Nabanna on Monday, though it is learnt that he had not stepped out of the vehicle.

The special secretary, her husband and their driver have all been admitted to Beliaghata ID Hospital and their reports are awaited.

The state government authorities are upset with the special secretary, who did not inform her seniors that her son had returned from London and was under quarantine. She continued to work and even took him to the state administrative headquarters.

As he has tested positive, it is important to find out all those who had come in contact with his apart from his parents and driver. This includes the passengers who travelled with him in the same flight and others who may have come in contact otherwise. The government is currently preparing this list along with the airports authorities. The teenager along with his mother visited Nabanna on Monday from where he was taken to Beliaghta Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital on the advice of a senior official.

Officials at Nabanna are screening CCTV footage to identify all those who came in contact with the bureaucrat. A cleaning drive is on at Nabanna.

With around 12,000 kept under quarantine in the state at the moment, the state government is taking various measures. The government is preparing a database of migrant workers who have returned from other COVID-19 affected states. Some of the departments have stopped biometric attendance of their employees. All state-run hospitals have been directed to create a separate queue for patients with symptoms of cough and cold to prevent their interaction with other patients. Kolkata Police is keeping an eye on social media to check the spread of rumours around COVID-19.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has increased to 147. Visits from 27 European nations and flights from several foreign nations have been stopped for now.