Nagpur: Woman quarantined instead of father

NAGPUR: Though Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) acted swiftly to trace and quarantine 197 persons as per the orders of ministry of home affairs (MHA), one case of mistaken identity has come to fore. A 40-year-old lady has been quarantined instead of her father, who too had just a digital footprint at Nizamuddin in New Delhi.
The lady is under institutional quarantine at Ravi Bhavan since April 2.Her father and mother have been quarantined at home, at Kamal Chowk, Pachpaoli.
Working in a private company, the lady told TOI, “We got a call from the police station on April 2, asking us to go and meet NMC officials at Pachpaoli Maternity Home. My father went there and inquired. They asked my father about me. They also directed my father to ask me to pack a bag and reach there,” she said.
She added, “I asked around, and came to know that my mobile number was in the list sent by the government to quarantine. I was surprised as I had not travelled out of the city for last one month or more. But my father and mother had gone to Krishna temple at Vrindavan in UP on March 15. They went to Nizamuddin railway station and returned to the city on March 19. My parents went there as it was father’s birthday on March 16,” she said.
The lady said, “I cleared the confusion of NMC officials. I also informed them that I had purchased a new SIM in my name, which my father used on the tour. But they did not listen to me. As a responsible citizen, I followed their instructions and came here,” she said.
The lady added, “Most frustrating thing is that NMC officials never clarified how many days I will have to be in quarantine. Before coming here, NMC officials said I will be relieved by next morning after receiving reports. Now, I have come to know that I will have to be here for 14 days. Even after five days our reports are yet to arrive,” she said.
She said, “My father and mother are doing well and had no health issues since they returned. I would have consulted Mayo Hospital in case of any health issues as I was well aware of Covid-19 issues,” she said.
The lady was among the 197 traced, examined and quarantined between April 1 and 3. She was in the second list of 85 persons.
TOI had reported earlier that a lawyer practicing in Supreme Court and residing at Civil Lines also had a digital footprint and was quarantined at Vanamati. But this case is completely opposite to that of the lady above. The lawyer’s SIM card was registered in the name of his father. The NMC team asked his father to come, but relented after he clarified he had never been to Delhi.The NMC team quarantined him and not his father.
NMC official from Ashi Nagar zone said, “We had instructions to quarantine all those in the list. Some are not giving proper information so we can’t believe blindly. And, we have to take all these precautions to control Covid-19. One the safer side, we are ensuring parents of the lady too remain under home quarantine,” he said.