A total of 29 persons, who attended a religious conference in New Delhi, along with the 42-year-old man of Kulithalai who tested positive for COVID-19, have been admitted to the isolation ward in the Karur Government Medical College Hospital here, according to Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar.
“Soon after a Kulithalai person tested positive for COVID-19, special teams visited various parts of the district and traced 29 persons. All of them are in the isolation ward. Their throat swabs have been sent for laboratory tests,” the Minister said after conducting a review meeting at the Collector’s Office here on Tuesday.
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He added that three other persons, who had returned to the State from New Delhi along with him, had been put in the isolation ward in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi and a government hospital in Chennai. Special teams have been formed to trace their contacts. Many of them had been identified and asked to remain in home quarantine.
Mr. Vijayabaskar said that health workers would visit their houses to ascertain whether any of them had cold, fever and breathing difficulties. If they come across such patients, they would be immediately be taken to the hospital.
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Collector T. Anbalagan said that the 5 km radius around the resident of the Kulithalai COVID-19 positive patient has been disinfected. The residents were asked to ensure personal distance and general hygiene.
He said that 260 persons, who were working in pharmaceuticals, petrol bunks and other services, have been issued with identity cards in the district. Steps were being taken to start door-to-door delivery of essential commodities, particularly groceries, by roping in grocers. It had been decided to shut the vegetable market at Kamaraj Nagar in order to avoid gathering of large crowds. However, alternative steps have been taken for selling vegetables to residents, he said.