Pune: An elderly woman from Burke village near Kesnand – about 30 kilometres towards East from Pune city – recently died due to some comorbidities but local district administration officials had some doubts about the symptoms the woman had displayed so as a precautionary measure COVID-19 tests were conducted on 13 members of the family. Shockingly, 10 members of the family, including two women and four children have tested positive for the infection. Officials believe that the two sons of the elderly woman working in Pune city were the carriers of the coronavirus which infected their mother.
The news of 10 members of the family testing positive spread like a wildfire in the village which resulted in panic among villagers. Local officials have demarcated and declared the area as a containment zone to prevent further spread of the deadly coronavirus. The entire village and surrounding area will be sealed with any movement prohibited in and out of the area for the next 14 days. Village Development Officer Rajendra Shinde immediately sent this proposal to the Block Development Officer and acted on it. Only essential services have been allowed to function in the area.
Dr SR Suryavanshi, Medical Officer at Wade Bolhai Public Health Centre (PHC) said, “The elderly woman died two days before. When the health officials enquired about the cause of death, they got to know about some symptoms displayed by the woman before her death. The officials realised that she could have been COVID-19 positive. So the officials asked the other family members to undergo the test for COVID-19. Since it is a joint family, 13 persons had come in contact with the deceased woman. Swab samples of all 13 members were collected and sent to the lab for testing. Out of these, 10 family members have tested positive and they include four children and two women.”
“Two sons of the deceased woman work in Pune city. The source of infection is not yet known, but we suspect that they were the carriers of the coronavirus. Out of the 10 family members, 9 have been admitted to a hospital in Pune city, while one has been admitted to a hospital in Wagholi,” added Dr Suryavanshi.
Edited by: Akshay Badwe
