Pune, March 10 (IANS): Five patients have tested positive for Covid-19 here and have been admitted in an isolation award at a local hospital, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced on Tuesday.
"There are a total of five patients who have teated positive for Coronavirus in Maharashtra," he said.
On Monday, a Pune couple, with a history of travel to Dubai, tested Coronavirus positive and were quarantined.
On Tuesday, their daughter, a cab-driver, who ferried them form Mumbai Airport to their Pune home, and a co-passenger, also tested positive.
All of them are undergoing treatment in isolation at Naidu Hospital here.
"The condition of the patients are stable. Mild symptoms of Corona were found in one of these two patients, whereas the other has not yet shown any symptoms. The information about all the people who came in contact with these two patients and the places where they have visited, is being collected," Divisional Commissioner of Pune Deepak Mhaisekar told media persons.
The two patients who tested have already provided details about the places they visited or people they came in contact with in the past last fortnight.
The couple had visited Dubai with a 40-member group in February end and returned to India on March 1, Mhaisekar said.
Armed with the information of all the people who came in contact with these two patients and also the places where they visited, he said that the screening of their family members, friends and the officers and employees where they are working, will also be done.
He added that the names, contact numbers and addresses of the 40 people with whom these two patients visited Dubai, has also been collected and being processed further.
The Divisional Commissioner said that two patients came to Pune from Mumbai by taxi and as a part of preventive measure, their co-passengers and the driver have been admitted to the hospitals for observation.
Mhaisekar said five squads have been constituted, comprising officers and employees from Revenue, Health and Police Departments and from both the Municipal Corporations, to verify whether or not the people with symptoms of coronavirus are found in the places where the duo visited or among the people, whom they met.
Pune has so far kept ready 207 bed Intensive Care Unit at 21 places in the jurisdiction of both the municipal corporation.
Also, the quarantine (isolation wards) are prepared for combating any situation with full might.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) said that the doctors should keep the information of all the patients who are coming to India from foreign lands, separately.
The state health authorities are also keeping tabs and is in full state of preparation to tackle any Covid-19 crisis, Tope has said.