A CHAIN of 119 people has been traced who directly or indirectly came in contact with the first COVID-19 case reported in Chandigarh. All have been home quarantined and a stamp has been marked on their hands. Contact tracing was done and samples of five more suspects for COVID-19 — father, mother, brother, cook and driver — were taken at GMCH-32. In all, 119 contacts have been traced. A flight co-passenger, gardener and his family all were traced and quarantined. The victim’s family came in contact with two more contacts in Mohali and Panchkula during this three-day period and they too have been quarantined. The administration also traced contacts of the victim’s brother who travelled to Delhi with friends, stayed at the friend’s place and held a meeting with three Delhi residents. The administration has sent all these details to Delhi’s state surveillance unit for quarantine. In all, 12 contacts of the patient, 70 secondary contacts (those of father and brother) and 37 secondary contacts (contacts of primary contacts of the patient) have been traced. Out of 119 those who are in Chandigarh are being home quarantined. Twenty-three individuals in Chandigarh have been home quarantined with stamp on their hand. In the locality where Chandigarh’s first COVID-19 case was reported from, an unusual silence reigned on the streets. A pall of gloom has descended on the area which has houses of mostly businessmen, industrialists and prominent lawyers. Just a police barricade that leads to the street where the victim resides is enough for people to recognise that this is not normal. Not just those in two-wheelers or pedestrians, even those travelling in cars here were completely masked — the only area in Chandigarh which seems to have been quite on vigil ever since the word has spread that the city’s first COVID-19 victim was here. Be it maids, vendors or visitors in this area, everyone was masked. “I have got this mask from the owner of the house where I work. They said the house next to theirs has got that virus,” a maid who had completely covered her mouth and nose with a mask said requesting anonymity. Federation of Sectors Welfare Association of Chandigarh has appointed its two masked men as security near the barricades to prevent people from entering the area. Incidentally, the FOSWAC chairman too stays right opposite the victim’s house. “The family members and those working in the house were taken away by the health department in the daytime. Now, as far as I know, they have been home quarantined here and police have been deployed to ensure that they don’t come out,” he said. But it’s an unusual fear that has gripped the locality. All morning and evening walks have been suspended. The health department is said to have carried out fumigation of the area too. “I just have one point: why didn’t the department act swiftly? All these two-three days the family may have come in contact with many people,” said the FOSWAC chairman. The health department has now also stamped on the back of palm of the family similar to what has been done at the Mumbai International Airport. Earlier, UT Adviser Manoj Parida said, “The COVID victim may have come in contact with 100 fellows in these three days before being tested positive for it. We have sent details of the victim’s flight to Government of India. We are still trying to carry out the contact tracing.”
