In Noida, as corona positive cases mount, foreign links emerge

 If district health officials are to be believed then, it is clear that coronavirus has struck in Noida and Greater Noida through foreigner contacts. The district has reported 23 corona positive cases.

One of the cases is of Siddharth Saxena, who had returned home in Noida from Denmark, sources said. The other is of a foreign national who arrived here for auditing in a company in Noida.

"In both the cases the origin of the virus was a foreign land," said a senior Noida health official.

Administration and health sources said in the second case, the district administration and the health department have directed initiation of a criminal case against the company for hiding the case.

Three members of Saxena's family have tested positive, sources added.

As per information available with the district health authorities, the managing director of the company had returned from UK to India on March 1, while officers in his company returned on March 7. The company had reportedly engaged a UK-based auditor who did his work for three days beginning March 14 and returned to the UK.

Now, 13 people associated with the company office have been found corona positive, sources added.

In yet another corona positive case from Greater Noida's Zeta-1 sector, a resident had returned from South Africa via Turkey. "All these cases have a common thread, that the virus was transported here from foreign lands," said the Chief Medical Officer in a statement.

The only remedy from the corona spread is social distancing and frequent hand washing, the official added. IANS