TIRUCHI
Five persons in central region, including two from Thanjavur and one each from Ariyalur, Karur and Nagapattinam, tested positive for the novel corona virus on Friday.
An Armed Reserve police constable attached to the dog squad in Ariyalur were among those who tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the declaration of the police quarters in the town as a containment zone. The patient was asymptomatic and the infection was only detected when routine checks were being conducted for all frontline workers including police personnel.
Ariyalur Collector D. Rathna who assessed the situation early on Friday morning said that the patient was sent to the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital as soon as the test result came in.
Swabs were lifted from the person's family members and seven others whom he closely worked with on Thursday night, she said. About 100 families in three blocks of the police quarters where the patient resides have been asked to remain in home quarantine soon after the test results arrived.
Sanitary workers of the Ariyalur municipality have been pressed into action to disinfect the police quarters, including 25 houses in the 'L' Block, where the patient resides, and the residents were quarantined.
Families in two more adjacent residential blocks have also been asked to remain in home quarantine, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Tiruchi Range, V. Balakrishnan, said.
Groceries and other essentials for the families of the 100 Armed Reserve police personnel will be supplied at their doorstep, he said.
Those living in 'L' Block will have to be quarantined for 14 days, while a decision on the others living in the other blocks will be made in consultation with the Deputy Director of Health Services after the test results arrive, he said.
A three-km radius around the police quarters has been declared a containment zone. Residents cannot venture outdoors, while outsiders will also not be allowed to enter, a senior health official said.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man tested positive for the infection in Karur after he returned from Chennai on Wednesday. The man had been working as an assistant aboard ‘108’ ambulances in Chennai, official sources said. Contact tracing is on to locate the source of infection, they added.
In Thanjavur, two women - one hailed from Kurvikarambai in Peravurani taluk and the other from Melathirupoonthurthi in Thiruvaiyaru block - tested positive. Both have contracted the virus from the members of their families who had already tested positive. With the two new cases, the total number of persons identified with coronavirus infection in the district has increased to 57, sources said.
In Nagapattinam, a 62-year-old man, hailing from Mayiladuthurai tested positive and admitted to the Nagapattinam District Headquarters Hospital. The source of the patient’s infection is unclear and contact tracing is on, official sources said.
One patient hailing from Tiruchi, three from Perambalur and two from Ariyalur returned home after recovering from the infection from the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital on Friday.
The total number of active positive cases from Tiruchi district has further decreased to four, official sources here said. Collector S. Sivarasu applauded the discharged patients and gave them a send-off in the presence of Dean, K. Vanitha and other hospital officials.
“There are still four patients from Tiruchi, four from Perambalur, one from Pudukottai and two from Ariyalur undergoing treatment at the hospital. They are all responding well and are being regularly monitored,” he said.
Three women, who have undergone treatment to the COVID-19 virus infection, were also discharged from the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital on Friday.
According to official sources, the three women were from Kumbakonam, Thiruvaiyaru and Orathanadu after they had contracted the virus infection from the members of their respective families.
All the discharged were directed to remain in self isolation at their homes for the next 14 days.
