A 19-year-old delivery agent associated with a famous pizza chain tested positive for Covid-19 in South Delhi on April 15, causing a huge scare for at least 72 families.
All 72 houses in Delhi's South District including Hauz Khas, Malviya Nagar and Savitri Nagar, have been told to observe self-quarantine after the delivery boy tested positive, a District Magistrate of South Delhi told a news agency.
The boy has been admitted to RML hospital in the national capital and is now undergoing treatment. Others who came in his contact are being monitored on a daily basis.
How did he get infected
The delivery agent doesn't have any travel history, say officials, who suspect he may have got the infection while delivering pizza to an infected family.
Twenty other delivery agents who came in contact with the teen have been quarantined at a facility in Chhattarpur.
Domino's issues statement
Reacting to the development, pizza outlet Domino's stated that the incident does not pertain to Domino's Pizza.
According to DM BM Mishra, a delivery boy from a famous pizza chain in Malviya Nagar area tested positive, following which the authorities immediately decided to quarantine his 16 colleagues at the outlet. A detailed trail was followed to identify each house where food was delivered by the outlet.
"We have found that 72 houses had taken delivery from that outlet and hence everyone has been told to follow precautionary measures and be under self- quarantine," Mishra told news agency IANS.
He added that there was no need to panic, as he had informed all the delivery boys to use masks and follow the safety measures while executing a delivery. But the decision to send all contact persons to quarantine was 'necessary' as a precautionary measure.
Food delivery giant Zomato reacts
Some of the orders from this outlet were also made through food delivery giant Zomato, which said that while all colleagues of the delivery boy have tested negative, as a precautionary measure, the restaurant has now suspended operations for the time being.
"All the co-workers of the said rider have tested negative and as a precaution, the restaurant where the rider worked has suspended operations," a statement by Zomato said.
The national capital has over 1,578 COVID-19 cases, including more than 30 deaths.
(With agency inputs)
