A Chennai hairdresser who kept his servicesopen illegally amid lockdown, has?ended up contracting the novel coronavirus.
According toan India Today report, after the saloon owner from Valasaravakkam municipality area tested positive, the Greater Chennai Corporation has now actively startedcontact tracing all residents in the region, especially those who visited hissaloon in Koyambedu neighbourhood.
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A truckdriver from Erode who drives to the Koyambedu market regularly is said to havevisited the saloon. His test results are awaited.
"Thoughthe saloon does not come under essential items, the man had opened the shop forlabourers who visit the market. The shop was identified and closed soon afterthe person tested positive," The New Indian Express quoted B Jayaraman,Assistant Commissioner of Police (Koyambedu), as saying.
Ten among the visited were spotted by the authorities. They have been asked to remain at home for the quarantine period.
A few othershave also been quarantined in Koyambedu after they came forward to be tested onhearing that the man had tested positive.
India Todayreport states that incident sparked fear among residents of the area and 30people have already come forward to admit having come in contact with thehairdresser.
Valasaravakkamrecorded three positive cases on Sunday, and this tally includes an electrician who had beenworking under contract at a government hospital, reports The New IndianExpress.
Reportsstate that the hairdresser was admitted to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital andis currently stable. He had voluntarily approached officials for testing afterdeveloping a fever, said corporation officials.
It is stillunclear if police will press charges against him for violating the lockdownprotocol and putting other people at risk.
In anincident similar to the one in Tamil Nadu, on April 25, six villagers in Madhya Pradesh, who went for a hair-cut, to a salon, tested positive for coronavirus.
“The entirevillage has been sealed and survey is underway. The kin of the six positivecases have been home-quarantined and their samples are being sent for testing,”chief medical and health officer (CMHO) of Khargone district, Dr Divyesh Verma,told The New Indian Express.
“It seemsthe same towel and instruments used during the haircut and shaving of the youth(who worked in Indore hotel and later tested positive for COVID-19) were usedby the barber for the other customers, which infected six of them,”? Dr Divyesh Verma added.