Elderly Woman Dies of Covid-19 in Indore after Attending Birthday Bash, 19 Test Positive

An FIR has been registered against organisers of a birthday party in worst-hit Indore after it came to light that a 70-year-old woman who attended

the bash has died while 19 others tested positive for coronavirus, an officer said on Tuesday.

Sanver Block Medical Officer (BMO) Hemant Raghuvanshi said these 19 infected people, including men and women, are relatives. The youngest of them is one-year-old and the eldest a 70-year-old.

Raghuvanshi said they had attended the birthday bash of a two-year-old child some ten days back at Badodia Khan village, some 32 kms from the district headquarters.

"A 70-year-old woman from Indore, who was already in poor health, also attended this birthday party. However, the family did not test her for COVID-19 despite her poor health and brought her from Indore to Badodia Khan village about 15 days ago," he said.

When her health worsened, she was brought to a government hospital in Sanver on May 18, where she was found infected with COVID-19, he said, adding that she died on May 22 while undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Indore.

"During the contact tracing, we came to know about a birthday party organised in Badodia Khan village during the lockdown period. Around 60 people, including the deceased woman, had attended this party," Raghuvanshi said.

He said that 19 people found infected by coronavirus have been admitted in different centres in Indore while other attendees are being traced.

Badodia Khan village, with a population of about 2,000, has been sealed and declared a containment zone, Raghuvnshi said.

A police officer said an FIR has been registered against three organisers of the birthday party under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

All the three accused have also been found infected and being treated at a centre in Indore.

A curfew has been in place in the urban borders of Indore district since March 25 following the corinavirus outbreak. So far, Indore has registered 3,103 COVID-19 cases and 117 deaths.