British
actress
Banita
Sandhu,
who
is
in
the
city
to
shoot
for
a
movie,
tested
positive
for
COVID-19
on
Monday
and
was
admitted
to
a
private
hospital
after
she
refused
to
be
treated
in
a
government
facility,
health
department
sources
said.
Sandhu,
who
was
shooting
for
Kavita
&
Teresa,
reached
the
city
on
December
20
and
she
travelled
in
the
same
flight
with
the
youth
who
tested
positive
for
the
mutant
coronavirus
strain
on
his
return
from
the
United
Kingdom.
She
was
detected
with
the
COVID-19
on
Monday
afternoon
and
steps
were
initiated
to
ascertain
whether
she
has
been
infected
with
the
new
strain,
an
official
said.
After
Sandhu
was
taken
to
the
Beliaghata
Infectious
Diseases
Hospital
where
a
separate
unit
has
been
set
up
to
keep
those
returned
from
the
UK,
the
23-year-old
actress
refused
to
come
out
of
the
ambulance
alleging
that
the
hospital
lacked
proper
infrastructure.
"We
had
to
inform
the
state
secretariat
and
the
health
department
as
she
was
unwilling
to
come
out
of
the
ambulance
and
at
one
point
of
time,
she
wanted
to
leave.
The
British
High
Commission
was
informed
as
we
cannot
let
her
go
like
this
which
is
against
the
protocol.
We
had
to
inform
the
police
also.
They
(police
personnel)
came
and
surrounded
the
ambulance
so
that
she
cannot
leave," the
official
said.
Sandhu,
who
co-starred
with
Varun
Dhawan
in
October
and
later
acted
in
the
Tamil
film
Adithya
Varma,
was
counselled
several
times
by
senior
doctors
of
the
hospital
but
their
efforts
went
in
vain.
"Eventually,
with
the
permission
of
the
health
department,
she
was
admitted
to
a
private
hospital," the
official
said
adding
that
Sandhu
has
been
kept
in
an
isolated
cabin
there.
Before
leaving
Beliaghata
ID
hospital,
the
actress
was
made
to
sign
a
declaration
that
she
was
unwilling
to
get
admitted
there
as
"she
felt
the
medical
establishment
lacked
infrastructure".
Steps
have
been
taken
to
get
the
genetic
analysis
of
her
samples
to
ascertain
whether
she
has
been
infected
with
the
mutant
coronavirus
strain,
Variant
of
Concern
202012/01
(VOC-202012/01),
another
official
of
the
health
department
told
PTI.
"We
will
be
sending
her
samples
for
genetic
analysis
to
Kalyani's
National
Institute
of
Biomedical
Genomics
to
ensure
whether
the
actress
is
infected
with
the
new
strain
of
the
coronavirus
or
not.
After
that
we
will
follow
the
necessary
protocol
once
the
result
is
out," the
official
said.
Kavita
&
Teresa
by
Swiss-Indian
filmmaker
Kamal
Musale
is
about
love
and
compassion
inspired
by
the
life
of
Mother
Teresa,
according
to
the
website
of
the
movie.