A tourist from Argentina, who had come to visit the Taj Mahal tested positive for COVID-19 on December 26, has gone missing, said Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Agra Dr Arun Kumar Srivastava on Wednesday.

The tourist’s samples were collected during screening at the Taj Mahal and on testing positive in the antigen test, he was not allowed to enter the monument premises.

Dr Srivastava said the foreign tourist provided incorrect contact details and he is being traced with the help of authorities and police .

“One international tourist who had come to visit the Taj Mahal tested positive Covid on December 26. On testing positive in the antigen test, he was not allowed to enter the monument premises. He gave us the wrong contact details. We are trying to trace him with the help of local authorities, police, ASI and nearby hotels to get details of the missing man,” he said.

Earlier, a man who returned from China was found positive for COVID-19 at the Taj Mahal on December 25.

“A corona patient has also been found in Agra who returned from China a few days back. The sample has been sent to Lucknow for genome sequencing. Genome sequencing is important because he came from China. He landed on December 22 in India and on December 23 he reached Agra. We are trying to trace his contacts. The person has not come in contact with many people as he was in his room most of the time since his arrival,” Dr Srivastava had said.

In view of the COVID-19 surge in several countries, including China, an alert has been issued in India too.

Meanwhile, testing has been ramped up at the Agra railway station, bus stands and airport following the Centre’s guidelines.
Health authorities in Agra have begun screening visitors at the Taj Mahal and other monuments, focusing their efforts mainly on foreign tourists.

Domestic and foreign tourists come every day in large numbers to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. Keeping the situation in mind, they will have to undergo a Covid test before their visit as per the official sources.

Anil Satsangi, the District Health Information Officer (Agra) had said, “The health department has already started the tests to prevent the spread of infection. As the alert is on, the tests have now been made mandatory for all the visitors.”

On Tuesday, mock drills were conducted in 400 dedicated hospitals spread across 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh in which the focus was on ensuring the availability of ventilators, medicines, and oxygen.