The Department of Health and Family Welfare of Tamil Nadu has traced and quarantined 27 people who were in close contact with the 45-year-old man who has been confirmed to have coronavirus in the state.
According to a report in The Hindu, the man had reached Chennai on February 28 from Oman in an Air India flight. An official said that eight of those who have been traced are his relatives and are high-risk contacts, while 19 others were low-risk contacts. They have all been kept under home observation, an official told. The 19 others include two passengers who travelled with him on his flight from Oman, his taxi driver, and doctors and staff at Government Stanley hospital.
The man had initially approached a doctor nearby for cold and fever. However, even after a few days of treatment, his symptoms refused to subside and hence his physician referred him to Government Stanley Medical College Hospital. From there, he was shifted to the isolation ward of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital late on March 4.
His samples which were sent to the King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy tested inconclusive. Hence, new samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune and returned positive on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu has so far screened over 1.13 lakh passengers in Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore airports, of which 1077 passengers have been kept under home quarantine for 28 days and three persons are in quarantine in hospitals. Across Tamil Nadu, 54 samples have tested negative so far and the department is monitoring 1243 people in the state for coronavirus.
As of Saturday, 34 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India. This includes two from Ladakh, 16 Italian tourists, one tour guide, five people in Delhi, one in Telangana, six in Agra and three in Kerala. The three persons who had coronavirus in Kerala have recovered.