Three of 180 Palghar residents test positive after Jaipur wedding bash

The functions were held on March 8 and March 9, and they landed at Mumbai airport on March 10. Representation pic

What is to be done if travellers test positive for Coronavirus days after testing negative on arrival at the airport? What should be the protocol for the co-passengers? The Palghar administration has landed in such a scenario and has asked the marriage party of nearly 200 to get tested again.

Nearly 180 people had travelled to Jaipur, Rajasthan, to attend the high-profile wedding of a builder's son. They stayed in Jaipur on March 8 and March 9, and flew back to Mumbai on March 10 on a private chartered plane. On arrival, they all got tested for Coronavirus and their reports came back negative.

However, after arriving in Palghar, three of the guests developed symptoms of COVID-19 and got themselves tested. They were COVID-19 positive and moved to a quarantine centre. The matter was discussed on March 13 at a meeting of district officials, where the tehsildar was instructed to ask the rest to get tested again. Dr Kiran Mahajan, resident deputy collector, Palghar, said, "We issued the order to ask the groom's parents to get tested for COVID-19. We don't want to take any risk." Palghar tehsildar Sunil Shinde sent all of them a notice, but the lawyer of Kirti Bafna, the groom's father, refused, citing the rules.

"On arrival at the Mumbai airport, all our guests got tested for COVID-19 and their reports came back negative. We don't have to get tested again," Bafna's advocate Sudhir Hari Gupta stated in his response to Shinde's notice. "We didn't invite a few people to the wedding, and now someone is taking revenge through this notice. We will take action against them," Gupta added.

‘Tehsildar flouted COVID rules'
Kirti Bafna's advocate Sudhir Hari Gupta has also complained against tehsildar Sunil Shinde, accusing him of flouting COVID-19 safety guidelines on March 11. On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, Shinde invited around 200 people at his home, he alleged in a notice sent to Palghar collector Dr Manik Gursale. Shinde was not wearing a mask and physical distancing norms were violated, Gupta alleged, seeking action against the tehsildar. If the collector won't take action against the tehsildar, then we will take legal action, he added.