59 People Infected With Covid-19 in Delhi Building as 17 More Test Positive in Second Batch of Results

In a building in Delhi's Kapashera, where 41 people had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, 17 more cases have been confirmed today, taking the total number of cases to 59.

The building is in Theke Wali Gali near the district collector’s office in Kapashera and was sealed after one person contracted the respiratory disease. Kapashera falls in the Bijwasan assembly constituency of Delhi.

Around 100 more samples were were sent to a private laboratory for tests today, NDTV quoted its sources as saying. Tests of the building's residents have been conducted in various batches, and some of the results are yet to arrive.

One resident, who had been complaining of respiratory problems, had tested positive for the virus on April 18, after which other residents underwent tests. Of the total samples, the results of 67 people arrived on Saturday of which 41 people tested positive. The authorities had sealed the area and collected samples of 175 people living in the area between April 20 and April 22 after the first case emerged.

"Keeping in mind the high density of population in this particular building, the district administration took the proactive decision of sealing and containing the building on April 19," an official had said.

The guidelines mandate sealing an area when minimum three cases have been reported.

Samples were collected of all residents in the building and sent to the National institute of Biologicals (NIB) in Noida. "Out of total samples collected from the building, some reports have come on Saturday and 41 have tested positive for COVID-19," the official said.

Incidentally, all the people who tested positive are asymptomatic. Sources said the delay was caused by the issue of pendency in the National Institue of Biologicals as well as the sealed Noida-Delhi borders.

As the results came after 13 days, the South West ast district administration decided to re-test all the 175 residents in the coming two days to reassess the situation. The house is already a containment zone.

The region is home to many migrant workers who live together crammed into one room set-ups. Dense population, crammed conditions, narrow lanes and poor civic conditions add to the worries of district officials, making social distancing a challenge.

Last month, a private secretary of southwest District Magistrate Rahul Singh had tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the DM to go into self-isolation.