Families shifted from Mangalwar peth to other places after first case reported, covid19 prevention staff steps up efforts to find them

KOLHAPUR: Many families from the Mangalwar Peth area, where the first confirmed case of coronavirus was reported, have temporarily shifted to other places.
The city’s first Covid-19 case was reported from here last Thursday. On Sunday, a family member of the confirmed patient was also found infected. Meanwhile, many families, mostly affluent ones, temporarily shifted base to other areas in the city between Thursday and Sunday.
The area has been completely cordoned off and search is going on to find the people who have come in contact with the positive Covid-19 patients. Officials who have been given the responsibility of tracing persons said that several houses in the locality were locked since the last few days.
A senior official said, “We have learnt that both the positive patients have come in contact with several people from the locality. The first patient is not a native of Kolhapur, he lives in Pune. Therefore, many people don’t recognise him. We have received information that he roamed around in the locality, visited relatives and their friends.”
“The man’s sister, who is a local, also tested positive for the contagion. Keeping her as the source, we are tracing the people who have come in direct contact with her,” said the official.
The officials said that though they did not find any other suspect in the locality, they have still screened over 80 people from the area as a precautionary measure. The teams have collected the details of the families who have left the locality.
These families will be requested not to hide information if anyone from among them has come in contact with the positive patients. They will also be told to undergo screening. Locals here said that the families who have left the area were living in Mangalwar Peth for the last 20 years. The officials are consulting with the locals to find out about the families who have left the area after the news of the two positive cases came to the fore.
All the roads upto 500 metre from the containment zone have been barricaded. Locals living in the area surrounding Mangalwar Peth have expressed the troubles they are facing. The local committee is providing the essentials to them and looking after their health concerns.