Hubballi: COVID-19 patients' personal information leaked, DC orders probe
Hubballi: An essential component of COVID-19 patients’ rights is their privacy, which was violated in Dharwad district after their personal information was leaked on social media a day before the authorities had confirmed the case.
The details of two patients, including their names, addresses, mobile numbers, and age, were widely shared on WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms on Wednesday, even though the district administration confirmed the case only on Thursday.
Deputy Commissioner Deepa Cholan had shot off a letter to the police commissioner, seeking the CDR (call detail record) of the two COVID-19 patients' mobile phones. The letter had also mentioned the personal details of the patients.
But this letter soon made its way to social media, and WhatsApp users kept sharing it without thinking about the privacy of the patients and their families.
Patients and their family members feel that they could face social hardships if their identity is made public. Therefore, the identity of such persons should not be revealed.
Taking the matter seriously, the deputy commissioner has instructed the Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner to investigate how the letter was leaked and take necessary action against the culprits.
"Details of the names and addresses of the individuals infected with the coronavirus have been unofficially shared on social networking sites on 22-04-2020. The district administration has taken the case seriously. Sharing this information on social media by civilians, and publishing it by media houses is a crime under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and COVID-19 Regulations, 2020," a statement from the district administration said.
"Deputy Commissioner Deepa Cholan has written to the Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner, instructing him to investigate the matter and take appropriate action against the violators," the statement read.
A neighbor of the 13-year-old COVID patient in Azad Colony, who was reluctant to disclose his name, said, "The girl had gone to her maternal uncle's house in Mulla Oni for vacation. After his uncle tested positive for the coronavirus, his entire family members, including the girl, were sent to a government quarantine center. After around 15 days, she tested positive today."
"Her identity should not have been leaked like this. Her father is a very soft-spoken person. Now everyone is looking at them with a different view. With this leak, everyone who knows him got to know that his daughter and relatives are infected," he added.
According to him, the patients' family members have decided to lodge a police complaint over the breach of privacy and against people who shared the information on social media.
Upset over the latest developments, the family was unavailable for comments when tried to contacted by a Vartha Bharati reporter.
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
