10 CRPF jawans test positive in Maharashtra, number of COVID cases rises to 490

Published : Apr 04, 2020 20:23 IST

On Day Six of the lockdown, March 30, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation workers spraying disinfectant in a residential complex. This work is being done in Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali and Borivali, the northern suburbs of Mumbai.

On Day Six of the lockdown, March 30, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation workers spraying disinfectant in a residential complex. This work is being done in Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali and Borivali, the northern suburbs of Mumbai.

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra has gone up to 490 with the addition of 11 cases from just one site. Ten jawans and one civilian person of the CRPF tested positive for the virus. All of them live in the CRPF’s quarters at Kalamboli, Panvel, north of Mumbai. The area comes under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Civic officials of the Panvel Municipal Corporation said 10 of the jawans had complained they were feeling unwell. They were tested for the virus and found to be positive. Following this all the residents in the CRPF colony, around 150 people including jawans and their families, were screened and put in home quarantine. The colony has been sealed and contact tracing has begun. Panvel already had three COVID-19 cases and these new cases take the total number of infected persons to 14. The jawans have been shifted to MGM Hospital in Kalamboli.

It is understood that the infected jawans picked up the virus while they were stationed at Mumbai’s international airport. All of them had been on duty screening passengers who arrived from countries that had been severely affected by the virus. While they scanned passengers for COVID-19 virus on a daily basis they wore standard-issue gloves and cotton masks.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Cluster Containment Action Plan is in operation in zones where COVID-19 cases have been detected. So far, 9.25 lakh citizens have been tested by 2,455 teams across the state. Their brief is to survey areas, do contact tracing and spread awareness of the disease. The modus operandi is simple. Teams fan out for doorstep surveys in a 3 km radius within which three or more coronavirus cases have been found. Working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the teams wear full protective gear and are usually deployed in one area for 14 days. They consist of health department staffers, Auxiliary Nurses and Midwives, Accredited Social Health Activists, anganwadi workers and nursing college students.

Maharashtra currently has 490 positive cases. The total deaths have been 26. Fifty people have recovered and been discharged.

Lyla Bavadam

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