Mumbai:
In the first major coronavirus outbreak in Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan and three members of his family have tested positive, civic officials said on Sunday, adding there was no cause for concern over their health. After Amitabh and his son Abhishek, the megastar’s daughter-in-law Aishwarya (46) and her daughter Aaradhya (8) have also tested coronavirus positive, Maharashtra’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope said.
The news of coronavirus infecting the tinsel town’s First Family triggered an outpouring of prayers and well- wishes for the senior Bachchan who has dominated Bollywood for over four decades. In Ujjain, a group of his fans offered prayers at the local temple, and wished him and family speedy recovery.
A fan recalled on Twitter that the megastar overcame a life-threatening injury on the sets of film Coolie in 1982 and will do the same now. The minister said Amitabh’s wife Jaya Bachchan has tested negative.
Amitabh (77) and Abhishek (44) revealed their COVID-19 diagnosis on Twitter on Saturday, saying they were in the isolation ward of Mumbai’s Nanavati Hospital. Dr Abdul Samad Ansari, director of Critical Care Services at the hospital, on Sunday said the Bachchan father- son duo were “feeling better” and their condition was stable.
“Both Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek are comfortable and feeling better. General blood chemistries are acceptable with stable vitals. Both slept well and had their breakfasts. They are stable,” Ansari told PTI.
Aishwarya and Aaradhya underwent tests at the hospital and have been advised home quarantine, BMC sources said. The BMC has declared four bungalows of the Bachchan family – Jalsa, Pratiksha, Janak and Vatsa – in Mumbai as containment zones and sealed them, a civic official said.
Civic employees sanitised the bungalows on Sunday, the official said. Around 30 workers in these places were also screened for coronavirus on Sunday, he added. A BMC team went to the bungalows for sanitising them and also for contact tracing, an official said.
Security was also stepped up outside Bachchan’s two bungalows in Juhu and outside the Nanavati Hospital, where the veteran actor and his son were admitted, police said. The coronavirus case tally in Mumbai rose to 91,457 on Saturday. There are 22,779 active patients in Mumbai and the doubling rate is 50 days.
