Kolkata, March 18, 2020: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 18 lashed out at what she called “irresponsible behavior” by those who “claim VIP status.”
Her outburst was triggered by the teen son of a civil service officer in Kolkata, who had returned from the UK on March 15 and tested positive for coronavirus, the first case in the eastern Indian state.
The student’s mother, a senior bureaucrat in the state government, went to the secretariat – the same building where the chief minister also has her office — and attended several meetings on March 16 a day before the 18-year-old reported to hospital and tested positive.
The boy is feared to have come into contact with many before reaching Kolkata. The fact that his father is a doctor added to social angst.
“You can’t claim VIP status and avoid COVID 19 tests,” a furious Banerjee said at an event.
“I welcome whoever is coming. But I am not welcoming the disease, sorry. You can’t suddenly come from abroad and go off to shopping malls without getting tested and then 500 people get affected…Just because someone from my family is influential so I don’t test… I don’t support this,” she raged.
The Bengal Home Secretary, with whom the teen’s mother had an extended meeting, stayed at home on March 18 as reports emerged of the whole family being quarantined and tested. Their results are expected soon.
The student, studying at a prominent university in England, had no symptoms when he landed at the Kolkata airport and was not detected during screening. He drove back home with his driver. The household includes, besides his parents, two helps.
The same evening, the young man received a call from friends in the UK who told him that three persons with whom he had attended a party in London had tested positive for the virus.
The student went to the government-run M R Bangur hospital, where a doctor referred him to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, the nodal center for COVID 19 in the city.
The ID hospital was informed that the teen was on his way but he did not go that day.
His mother, who accompanied him to the hospital, went to her office on the fifth floor of the state secretariat building – Mamata Banerjee sits on the 14th floor — and attended many meetings including one on coronavirus.
It was only on March 17 that the teen went to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, where one of his four swab samples was found positive.
He has been kept in an isolation cabin and is reported by doctors to be in in a stable condition.
The teen is one of 18 people admitted to the ID Hospital currently.
Source: ndtv.com