Four of Pune woman’s kin test Covid +ve, but mom & daughter fine

PUNE: Three days after a 41-year-old Pune woman tested positive for Covid-19, four of her family members were also found infected with the contagion on Sunday. However, the tests of the woman’s mother, 64, and daughter, 21, who live with her, turned negative.


The woman is currently on ventilator support in a city hospital. The four who tested positive are the woman’s 17-yearold son, her 44-year-old sister and 47-year-old brotherin-law and their 21-year-old daughter. With these four, the tally of Covid-19 positive cases in Pune since March 9 has reached 27 — 15 from areas in Pune city and 12 from neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad.

Seven of the 15 patients from Pune are residents of housing societies on Sinhagad Road. Of the identified clusters of Covid-19 cases in Pune, the Sinhagad Road area now has the maximum incidence of coronavirus. The critical woman has no known history of foreign travel or any proximity to close contacts of people who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Her throat swab sent to the National Institute of Virology to rule out swine flu turned out positive for coronavirus on March 20. A state health official said, “Surprisingly, the 41year-old woman’s mother and daughter, despite living in the same house as her, tested negative for the infection. There are theories that older people are at greater risk of contracting the disease.”

The official said the four family members who tested positive have been admitted to another hospital. The four who tested positive on Sunday have flu-like symptoms. “None of them is exhibiting any severe symptoms. They have been put on antiviral medications, including oseltamivir, which is used in the treatment of swine flu,” the official said.