57 Inmates Of Kanpur Shelter Home Test Positive For Coronavirus, Including 5 Pregnant Girls

Fifty-seven inmates of a shelter home in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, including five pregnant girls, have tested positive for coronavirus in the last four days. Deputy Chief Probation Officer Shruti Shukla said that of the five pregnant girls, one is HIV positive and another is infected with Hepatitis C.

According to Kanpur District Magistrate Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari, the girls were pregnant when they came to the shelter home. They are from Agra, Etah, Kannauj, Firozabad and Kanpur.

"The pregnant girls are victims of offences committed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO)… Two of them were pregnant when they reached the home in December. They are around eight months pregnant," The Indian Express quoted Shukla as saying.

When a random sampling test on June 12 found one inmate COVID-19 positive, all the 171 inmates were tested. The ones who were found positive are all aged between 15-17 years.

The inmates of the shelter home, all aged between 10 and 18 years of age, are kept there on the directions of the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

The remaining employees and inmates have been quarantined in a separate building.

While the Kanpur administration is trying to trace how the virus reached the shelter home, officials suspect that the coronavirus-positive staffer is likely to be the source. She would visit hospital with inmates for their treatment. Six girls have come to the home and one of them was found to be coronavirus-positive.

"All 57 girls and the woman staffer of the girl's home have been admitted to hospitals," said Shukla.

The shelter home houses a women's protection home on its campus. Shukla confirmed that samples of all the inmates were negative.

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