Hamirpur admn sent home 15 COVID patients without waiting for test reports

Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 28

Fifteen people, out of the 43, who had come to Hamirpur district from Mumbai and were sent home before their coronavirus test reports were recieved, tested positive for the deadly disease late on Wednesday night.

The moment the report was received late last night, the administration went into a tizzy to bring back the 15 people to the quarantine centre from their homes. It was between 10 pm to 3 am in the morning that the infected, 11 men and four women, were brought back in a haste to the quarantine centre, where they had been lodged before being sent home. Majority of the people belonged to Barsar, Nadaun and Bhoranj.

The highest number of coronavirus cases in Himachal-93- have been reported from Hamirpur district, which currently has 85 active cases. 

“The mistake happened due to a miscommunication and I have sought a report in this regard,” said Harikesh Meena, Deputy Commissioner, Hamirpur.

The infected people were sent back to their villages despite their being highly vulnerable after returning from COVID-hotspot Mumbai.

Though the first report of these 43 persons was negative, as per the guidelines, they could only be sent home after a second test. All the 43 people had been kept under institutional quarantine at Navodya Vidyalaya at Dungri.