60 Who Came in Contact With Kanika Test Negative; One Missing

Kanika attended at least 3 parties before being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Singer Kanika Kapoor.

(Photo: IANS)

60 samples of those who have recently come in contact with singer Kanika Kapoor, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, have been found to be negative, reported The Indian Express. According to Uttar Pradesh's State Health Department, at least 266 people have been in close proximity to the 'Baby Doll' singer, and the process of tracing her contacts has been completed. An official confirmed the news on Sunday, 22 March, saying that more samples would be taken should any other contacts show symptoms of COVID-19.

The publication quoted State Surveillance Officer Vikasendu Agarwal as saying,

“We have traced and contacted 266 people, including 106 people in last 24 hours, all over India. These include some prominent politicians, who came in contact with singer Kanika Kapoor. We have tested more than 60 samples and all of them have been confirmed negative. I don’t think we have more people to trace as we have already talked to all the organisers and people present in the four parties attended by her. We have traced the shops and salons she had visited. I don’t think there is any think else remaining now.”

Vikasendu Agarwal, State Surveillance Officer, Uttar Pradesh

However, IANS has reported that the Lucknow police are still trying to trace Mumbai-based entrepreneur Ojas Desai, who was present with Kanika at the Taj Hotel in Lucknow and left the city on 16 March.

Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Narendra Agarwal said that they had been trying to track down Desai but did not have his exact address in Mumbai or his whereabouts. The singer is in quarantine and cannot be questioned at this time, he added.

The Taj has sent 11 of its employees who interacted with Kanika during her two-day stay at the hotel into quarantine. “We are keeping close watch on their health and necessary checks are being done,” a hotel official told IANS. The hotel has been shut down by the Lucknow administration until further notice as a precautionary measure.

Kanika Kapoor on Friday, 20 March, confirmed that she had tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from the UK on 9 March. Prior to being diagnosed, the singer from from Mumbai to Lucknow to meet her family on 11 March, stayed at the Taj Hotel and attended at least three parties, including one attended by top bureaucrats such as National Vice President of the BJP, Vasundhara Raje, her son and MP Dushyant Singh and Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh. However, she has claimed that she went through due procedure at the airport on arrival in India and initially The singer defended herself by saying that she exhibited no known symptoms of COVID-19 at the time.

Kanika has been booked for negligence by the Lucknow police and a criminal complaint has been filed against her before a Bihar court accusing her of neglecting and disobeying an order issued by a public servant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. She is currently under quarantine at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences.