Eighteen persons from Shoolagiri — who formed a cluster of COVID-19 cases — were among 19 persons discharged from the ESI Hospital in Hosur on Monday after they recovered from the infection. They were discharged after testing negative on the 14th day of their isolation at the hospital. The 19th person is an ambulance driver from Shoolagiri, who had tested positive on returning from Chennai.
The results of tests on their samples on the 14th day returned negative, said Paramasivan, Joint Director of Health, Krishnagiri. “We tested them despite the revised protocol by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) that allows the release of patients without testing on the 10th day, when they are asymptomatic and the virus is not virulent,” he said.
Krishnagiri had remained a green zone till cases were reported from Shoolagiri, which is known for coriander cultivation. It was later found that the infection was linked to the Koyambedu market in Chennai, to which trucks were operated from Shoolagiri to supply the produce. From the first cases — two women — the number spiked to 18 within a week. The infected were all relatives, family members and neighbours of the first cases. While they were placed in home quarantine initially, they were moved to the isolation ward at the hospital following reports of breach of quarantine in Kamarajar Nagar.
The district that had recorded 21 COVID-19 positive cases, including the outstation case of the ambulance driver, now has only two cases. Two patients, who had returned from Maharashtra a fortnight ago, had tested positive. They are likely to be discharged in two or three days, said Deputy Director of Health Services Govindan.
