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HomeHealthHigh-risk contacts of Kareena, Amrita Arora test negative for Covid, BMC unseals...

High-risk contacts of Kareena, Amrita Arora test negative for Covid, BMC unseals buildings

BMC had gone on a tracking and testing drive after actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Amrita Arora, and designer Seema Khan tested Covid positive Monday.

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Mumbai: Covid-19 tests of nearly all 110 high-risk contacts of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Amrita Arora and Seema Khan, who tested positive for the infection, came negative Wednesday, prompting the Mumbai civic body to release the residential buildings of the Bollywood personalities that it had sealed Tuesday. 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had gone on a tracking and testing drive after actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Arora, and designer Seema Khan (actor Sohail Khan’s wife) tested Covid positive Monday. As of 5 pm Wednesday, Kareena’s domestic help is also positive. Seema Khan’s son and sister also tested positive. Their tests came positive immediately after Seema’s.

The BMC sealed the buildings in which the Bollywood personalities stay, as well as the building where filmmaker Karan Johar resides, located in the Bandra and Khar areas of Mumbai.

Johar’s building was sealed as the BMC suspected that all three who tested positive got the infection at a dinner party hosted by the filmmaker on 8 December, where Seema Khan was reportedly coughing.

Maheep Kapoor, wife of actor Sanjay Kapoor, who was also at the party and is positive, is under home quarantine.

The BMC collected 110 samples from the four buildings, as well as the support staff such as the building watchmen and domestic help.

“We have tested all close and high risk contacts in these buildings and almost all of them are negative,” BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Suresh Kakaniat told ThePrint.  “Our appeal to citizens is avoid socialising and in case of any symptoms one should get tested immediately.”

The civic body has unsealed all four buildings. As of 14 December, there were 15 buildings sealed across Mumbai, including the four where the Bollywood personalities live.


Also read: Serum Institute plans to launch Covid vaccine for children in next 6 months


Guests got Covid at K3G party, BMC says no violations 

Last week, filmmaker Karan Johar hosted a party on account of his film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham completing 20 years. The gathering was attended by Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora, Seema Khan, Maheep Kapoor, among others.

Seema Khan tested positive after that, which led to Kapoor and Arora take the test on 11 December. On Sunday, Kareena Kapoor and Amrita Arora’s results came back positive. The BMC then got into action, with civic officials suspecting that the party may have violated Covid protocols and turned into a superspreader event.

Johar and his family have also tested negative and he took to Instagram to announce it, emphasising that his party did not violate any Covid protocols.

“My family and I and everyone at home have done their RTPCR tests and with the grace of God we are all negative. In fact, I tested twice just to be safe and am negative. I truly appreciate the grandest efforts of the BMC to ensure the safety of our city. Salute to them. To some members of the media, I would like to clarify that an 8 people intimate gathering is not a ‘party.’ And my home which we maintain strict protocols in is certainly no ‘hotspot’ of covid,” Johar said.

“All of us are responsible and masked at all times and no one would treat this pandemic lightly. My request to certain members of the media is to exercise some restraint in their extreme reportage without the assessment of facts! Lots of love and safety to all. Karan Johar,” he further clarified.

Speaking to ThePrint, Kakani also confirmed that the BMC did not spot any violations in the checks that it conducted after three guests to the party tested positive.

“Since the party was indoors and not on some open ground of public place or hotel, it didn’t violate any code and does not warrant any more action as of now,” he said.

While BMC confirmed Kapoor and Arora are asymptomatic, Seema Khan had mild symptoms and she was already hospitalised and her building was sealed by the BMC. 

On Monday, as precautionary measures, buildings Satuguru Sharan (Kareena Kapoor Khan), The Residency Building (Karan Johar), Sarkar Heritage (Amrita Arora) were sealed along with Kiran Apartment, the building in which Seema Khan resides. All the three were doubly vaccinated.

According to BMC’s data, 80 per cent of Mumbai’s eligible population has taken both doses of Covid vaccines. The civic body hopes to finish fully vaccinating the entire population of the city by January next year, with drives such as 24/7 vaccinations and mobile vaccination units.


Also read: Two-dose vaccines induce lower antibodies against Omicron, Oxford study finds


 

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