Admin didn’t tell us about case, took 2 days to act: Silicon City residents

NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar administration took two days to seal a residential tower, from where a Covid-19 case was reported on May 25. Residents said it was the patient’s family who informed neighbours about the positive case and not the administration.

The patient is a resident of Amrapali Silicon City in Sector 76, a housing society that has 21 residential towers and at least 2,000 families living in them.

“On May 25, we got to know that one resident, who works with a private company, had tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to a government hospital in the district. The family of the patient shared the news with us. But we were taken aback that the administration had not promptly sealed the tower or put up a notice informing people about the positive case. In earlier cases, the administration was sealing the premises right after a person was found positive,” Amita Singh, a resident, said.

Residents said in two days, many who were not aware of the Covid-19 case, kept using the common space in the society.

Silicon City Social Welfare Association (SCSWA) said that they have sanitised the common spaces such as lifts, and gallery.

“The administration has deployed police and other workers to ensure protocols are followed at the tower. The staff at the tower informed us that they sealed the tower as and when they got the orders,” Naveen Mishra, president, SCSWA, said.

Noida city magistrate Uma Shankar Singh said it takes time to seal a building. “There was a discussion on whether we should seal just the tower or the society. Later, it was decided that only the tower will be sealed,” Singh said.

District magistrate Suhas LY said, “It takes time to start the sealing process.”