An Indian national who had returned from Italy on March 11 and was quarantined at Army’s facility at Manesar has tested positive for COVID-19, Army sources said on Friday.
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“As per procedure, he has been shifted to an isolation facility at Safdarjung Hospital for further medical examination and recovery,” Army sources said. The patient was employed in one of the restaurants in Italy for the last 14 years.
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Evacuated Indians quarantined in Mumbai
Meanwhile, 44 Indian citizens evacuated from Iran on Friday have been shifted to Indian Navy quarantine facility set up at Ghatkopar in Mumbai. The facility can accommodate 120 people, Navy officials said.
The Navy has also set up isolation facilities at its premier hospital INHS Asvini in Mumbai to treat COVID-19 cases, the Navy said.
Indian Navy’s Command Headquarters at Kochi and Visakhapatnam have also been directed to set up similar facilities, a Navy source said adding separate “fever clinics” are functioning at all naval hospitals to prevent spread of infection from undiagnosed cases.
Health advisories have also been issued to naval ships moving in international waters, the Navy source added.
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Two medical facilities
As on Thursday, the military was running two medical facilities at Hindon in Ghaziabad and Manesar, Haryana and a total of 265 civilians were under military supervision at these two facilities. Of them a batch of 124 cases have completed their 14 days of isolation at Manesar facility and left the facility on Thursday evening.
Manesar facility consists of temporary barracks for accommodation, administration and medical facilities and can accommodate a total of 300 individuals.
In addition, sources said that Army’s Command headquarters have been instructed to establish adequate quarantine facilities at five additional locations to support the quarantine plans of the Government. These include Jodhpur (1,000), Jaisalmer (1,000), Jhansi (1,000), Binnaguri (300) and Gaya (300).
In an effort to prevent spread pf COVID-19, the Army has issued additional instructions to its personnel to accord adequate focus on health security. As per this all recruitment rallies to be postponed by one month. “Travel to be restricted to essential duties only and there will be maximum utilisation of video conference facilities,” Army sources added.
The Army is incurring an expenditure of ₹3.5 lakh per day to run the quarantine facility for Corona virus suspects at Manesar and 60 personnel have been committed to run the facility, Army sources had stated earlier.
