Noida: COVID-19 cases rise to 48, DM urges people to stay indoors

Ten new coronavirus patients were detected in Noida and Greater Noida in past 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar district to 48, officials said on Wednesday.

Three of them were detected on Tuesday night and seven on Wednesday, they said.

District Magistrate Suhas L Y told reporters only seven new patients were detected and put the total cases at 45. But a local health department bulletin later said three more positive cases were found.

A mother-son duo from Sector 37 and an 81-year-old man from Sector 28 in Noida are the three cases detected on Tuesday night , officials said.

The age of the mother and the son could not be known immediately but they possible contracted the virus from a relative who returned from Switzerland, officials said.

The source of infection for the octogenarian was yet to be ascertained.

The cases detected on Wednesday are: two females aged 45 and 19 in Greater Noida, a 30-year-old woman from Patwari village in Greater Noida, and two females aged 11 and 80 from Greater Noida West (Noida Extension), the officials said.

A 35-year-old man from Sector 22 in Noida and a 32-year-old man from Sector 94 have also been detected positive for the virus, they said.

They said the infection trail of the girl and the two men could be traced to Cease Fire company, which is already under government scanner for triggering a COVID-19 chain and has been booked for endangering people's life.

DM Suhas said the administration's focus is on contact-tracing. Officials are monitoring those who have returned from abroad as well as those from outside the district, he said.

"They are also tracing primary and secondary contacts of those infected," the DM said.

He insisted that the situation is under control and appealed to people to stay indoors.

"If 99 per cent people follow precautions and 1 per cent don't, then that 1 per cent will put the whole society at risk. The government and the administration need your support and we are ensuring minimum difficulties to the citizens," Suhas said.

The health department said 696 samples have been sent for testing from the district so far, of which 48 have tested positive, 445 negative and the result for 203 was awaited.

Currently, 2,046 people were under surveillance in Noida and Greater Noida, and 317 have been quarantined 97 of them at a university hostel and the rest in isolation facilities at hospitals, it added.