Ahmedabad, one of the hotspots of COVID-19, makes its patients' identity public

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Wednesday made names and addresses of all positive cases of coronavirus infected persons public. The officials said that the decision has been taken in "public interest" to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Ahmedabad city, one of the hotspots of infection in the country, has recorded the highest 31 positive cases, out of which three have died during the treatment.
The announcement to make the names and addresses of the patients public was taken by the AMC commissioner Vijay Nehra. A release quoted him as saying, "The name of the persons already found positive may be declared in the larger public interest so that other people who could have potentially come in contact with them can voluntarily inform the authorities and isolate themselves and thereby avoid becoming unsuspecting carriers of the virus."

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It also states that "In the larger public interest and with a view to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to strike a balance between the privacy of an individual and the larger public interest of the society", AMC commissioner Vijay Nehra ordered the making the names and addresses of the patients public. A warning has also been issued that any directly or indirectly discriminate against the patients or their family would amount to the registration of punishable offence under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897.

Till Wednesday evening, a total of 31 cases were detected, out of which three passed away while five have recovered. This is the highest number of cases in Gujarat that has detected a total of 87 cases so far. In the past 24 hours, the state recorded 13 positive cases out of Ahmedabad alone recorded eight cases.

A day before, the central government identified Ahmadabad among the ten hotspots of the virus in the country that included Mumbai, Pune in neighbouring Maharashtra, Noida and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh among others. When asked if names of patients in other districts and cities of the state will be made public, a top health officer told DH, "There is no such decision taken as on today. The collectors and commissioners can take decision on their own as prescribed under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 in public interest."