Agra nursing home sealed after US returnee found positive

The district health authorities have sealed a nursing home in Agra's posh Kamla Nagar colony, after the son of the doctor-owner, was found COVID-19 positive late Thursday evening.

The health department officials were tracing the patients and relatives who visited the crowded nursing home, through the screening of records and CCTV footage. The number could run into hundreds.

The parents and son along with some 25 staffers have been admitted to the isolation ward of the S.N. Medical College. So far ten have been found negative.

"Seven days ago, the son of the doctor couple returned from America. He was not well and was being treated. The health department officials visited the nursing home Thursday evening and picked up the son for testing.

"When it was confirmed that he was corona-positive, that the administrative machinery got into panic mode and sealed the nursing home. The whole colony is now being sanitised and houses in the neighbourhood being screened," a social activist, living in the area, told IANS.

The District Magistrate P.N. Singh and the Chief medical Officer (CMO) Mukesh Vats confirmed the test report late Thursday night, and initiated preventive measures early Friday to contain the spread of the deadly virus. The city is already under total lockdown.

"Right now there is fear and anxiety all around, after this case. The administration has fully geared up its health safety apparatus, while the police has put up barriers at more than 150 points and effectively sealed the entry points," an official said. IANS