Two persons from Mumbai on Wednesday tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. An elderly couple, who are admitted at Kasturba hospital, had visited Dubai with a Pune couple, who had tested positive for coronavirus on March 9. Maharashtra now has 11 coronavirus cases: eight in Pune, two in Mumbai, and one in Nagpur. Maharashtra has screened 1.38 lakh people so far at airports in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. Of them, 349 people with symptoms have been isolated.With the growing number of Coronavirus cases across the country, the civic body has been preparing for a possible outbreak. The number of beds at Kasturba Hospital was recently increased from 28 to 60 so patients can be isolated.
State health secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas said, “The two cases in Mumbai have tested positive for Covid-19. There is no need for a confirmatory test at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. These patients will be discharged only after two tests within a gap of 24 hours come negative.” Those who have tested positive in Mumbai and Pune are either passengers of the March 1 Dubai-Mumbai flight or came in close contact with them. The housing society where the couple stayed will be advised home quarantine with civic officials reaching out to the neighbourhood to check for cases of cough, cold, pneumonia and breathlessness. The local nursing homes and hospitals have been advised to refer all symptomatic patients, in the 3 km radius of the couple’s house, to the government hospital.