Panaji: Seven boys from the state-run protective home ‘Apna Ghar’ at Merces have tested positive for coronavirus, and they are asymptomatic to the dreaded virus.
Reliable sources maintained that the news about the inmates getting infected to COVID-19 last Thursday reached the women and child development, which oversees the institution, and the child rights commission only on Saturday, indicating the lack of coordination.
A picnic had been scheduled for Sunday by the institution for girl inmates not knowing that a boy inmate had tested positive for the virus. However, the picnic was cancelled on Saturday after the intervention of the district collector.
Sources at the Apna Ghar said that one of the staffers was sick but continued with the work and even interacted with the inmates.
A boy, who had come in contact with this staffer, tested positive after being taken for testing as he was returning to his native state.
“COVID-19 was first detected in a child, who was taken for the regular testing, as he was being taken to Madhya Pradesh after the release from the facility on Saturday. The boy was immediately kept in an isolation room of the Apna Ghar. On the same day, four more children were found to be coronavirus positive. Antigen and RT-PCR tests done on Sunday found the infection in two more children, taking the total number of the infected to seven. They have not been admitted to a COVID facility since they are asymptomatic,” said an official of the women and child development department.
The COVID positive boys have been shifted to isolation rooms in the Apna Ghar and provided with required medical attention, the official said.
Among the infected, five boys have been living in the home as they need care and protection, while two others have been lodged in the Apna Ghar after they had run-ins with the law under the Juvenile Justice Act 2000.
The other inmates of the protective home have undergone the COVID test. Samples of staffers have also been collected.
The test results of all other inmates are negative, while reports of the employees checked for the virus are yet to arrive.
The source of infection is yet to be established – whether it was transmitted by staff members or visitors.
“We have followed all the protocols; a team of doctors and nurses deputed at the facility is monitoring their health on a regular basis. We have sanitised the premises. The children commission has requested to declare the institution a micro-containment zone but the Apna Ghar doesn’t need to be declared as such, because the spread is within the facility…,” the official maintained.
It is pertinent to note that no regular COVID tests are done on staffers who come in contact with the inmates.
Moreover, no periodical tests are conducted on inmates after they are admitted into the protective home.
The post 7 Apna Ghar inmates test positive for COVID appeared first on The Navhind Times.
Comments
Post a Comment