British actress Banita Sandhu, who starred in Bollywood movie ‘October’, has reportedly refused to be treated at a government hospital in Kolkata after testing positive for COVID-19.
Sandhu, who is of Indian origin, had travelled from the UK to Kolkata on December 20 to shoot for the movie ‘Kavita & Teresa’. On the flight, she reportedly came into contact with someone who would later test positive for the mutant strain of coronavirus. Sandhu tested positive on Monday. However, when she was taken to the Beliaghata Infectious Diseases Hospital, the 23-year-old actress refused to come out of the ambulance.
“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,” an official was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. “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.”
“Eventually, with the permission of the health department, she was admitted to a private hospital,” the official added. Sandhu allegedly felt that the government facility lacked proper infrastructure.
The official was quoted as saying that her samples would be tested to see if she has the new, more infectious strain of the coronavirus.
Apart from her role opposite actor Varun Dhawan in ‘October, Sandhu has starred in ‘Adithya Varma’, the Tamil remake of Telugu hit ‘Arjun Reddy’.