Coronavirus Scare: Three-year-old Kalyan girl tests positive; count in Maharashtra increases to 39

On Monday, a three-year-old girl from Kalyan tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of patients infected by COVID-19 in the state to 39. Both her parents were previously tested positive for the viral infection.

The doctors at Kasturba Hospital stated that the child's father, 37, had a history of travel to the United States. He was tested positive initially and after that, was kept in isolation at Kasturba Hospital. As a precautionary measure, his daughter and wife, 33, were also kept in isolation and later they too tested positive.

Six new cases were diagnosed on Monday in Maharashtra, taking the total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state to 39 - the highest in India. The government has been taking all the necessary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Keeping the intensity of the spread in mind, all the examinations, except board exams, have been postponed and college and school staff have been instructed to work from home till March 25.

Here are the five new patients who tested positive for Covid-19 at Kasturba Hospital on Monday:

• A 44-year-old female patient from Bhandup was tested positive and is admitted along with a high-risk relative. She has a travel history to Lisbon, Portugal and landed in Mumbai on March 13. Alongside, a community survey has also been conducted and two low-risk contacts have also been identified. They have been kept under a 14 day-surveillance.
• Two patients are the wife and daughter of a patient from Kalyan, aged 37, with travel history to the United States.
• Two male patients in their forties are said to be Navi Mumbai residents. They had travelled to the Philippines and landed in Mumbai on March 2. The two were part of a group of 10 people who had travelled to the Philippines.

According to the authorities,  the next 14 days are crucial in terms of epidemic stages. In the meantime, the Maharashtra government has created a 3-layer surveillance strategy. This consists of the determination of three groups and the level of probability they will catch the disease:

• A category: This consists of those who have been screened at airports and have been showing symptoms. Individuals in Category A have been straight away taken to the Kasturba Hospital for quarantine.
• B category: This classifies people who are likely to get infected or prone to get infected. The people in Category B will be kept in isolation facilities and are being monitored. Their samples will be taken and they will be discharged on doctors' orders.
• C category: This consists of individuals who haven't shown any symptoms and so, have been asked to go home to follow self-isolation. However, the authorities will keep them under surveillance. Currently, around 1,000 such people are under surveillance in Mumbai.