72 families in Indian capital put in home quarantine after pizza delivery agent tests positive for COVID-19

At least 72 families were required to remain in home quarantine in the Indian capital city after a deliver agent from a pizza chain restaurant tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said Thursday.

The families living in several localities of south Delhi have been asked to remain inside their houses.

Reports said the delivery agent, a teenager, has delivered pizzas until April 12. Fifteen days before that date, he had delivered food packets to 72 families in south Delhi areas like Hauz Khas, Malviya Nagar and Savitri Nagar.

The delivery agent has been admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital in the capital city.

Officials say these families have been home quarantined and were being monitored.

According to officials, the delivery agent does not have any travel history and is suspected to have contracted the infection while delivering pizza to an infected family.

Delhi reported on Thursday a total of 1,578 COVID-19 cases including 32 deaths.

A lockdown was announced by the government on March 25 to contain the pandemic. Although shops, malls, restaurants and public transport were closed, however, the home delivery of goods was exempted from the lockdown.

India's federal health ministry on Thursday morning said the death toll due to COVID-19 in India rose to 414 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 12,380.

Health experts believe the low level of testing in India is the reason behind its COVID-19 cases. According to India's top health research body — Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), by Wednesday evening, 274,599 samples from 258,730 individuals have been tested.