Ten patients tested positive for COVID-19 in the central region on Monday. Four of them hailed from Tiruchi while two belonged to Ariyalur and one each were from Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Pudukottai and Perambalur districts. The patients from Ariyalur, Pudukottai are undergoing treatment at the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) as it is the designated COVID-19 hospital.
The four male patients in Tiruchi who tested positive are primary contacts of people who had travelled to the single source event in New Delhi in March. The patients had been kept in home quarantine within containment zones and rushed to the MGMGH after they showed symptoms. With this the total active cases in the district has risen to 21. The district however, remains in the ‘red zone’ as the situation must be monitored for some more time, S. Sivarasu, District Collector said.
Health officials have so far tested 39 family members and 707 contacts of patients who had previously tested positive within 25 containment zones. Seven contacts had tested positive earlier. Meanwhile, all 3,916 individuals who were kept under home quarantine have completed their 28-day period and can go out when necessary.
Ariyalur
Two women, both contacts of a man who had travelled to New Delhi have tested positive here. Both women are employees of a medical shop which the man owns, official sources said. Although the man was traced, tested and the result came negative, the two girls tested positive and are undergoing treatment at the Tiruchi MGMGH where they were sent to on Saturday night, officials said. The families of the girls residing in Sendhurai and Rayampuram have been home quarantined and their localities have been cordoned off as containment zones.
Perambalur
A 59-year-old woman, a resident of Kunnam who had travelled to Varanasi for a pilgrimage has tested positive for COVID-19. The patient had travelled with 55 others belonging to various States, where she may have contracted the infection, officials here said. She is, however, undergoing treatment at Chennai, as she was kept under isolation at a facility there after being brought back from Varanasi, they added.
Health officials here began testing frontline workers, including doctors, nurses and police personnel using rapid testing kits which were brought to the district on Monday. A total of 500 rapid testing units have been received, while more will be distributed if the need arises. District Collector V. Santha initiated the testing using the kits at the District Collectorate.
Pudukottai
A 23-year-old man tested positive, the first in the district, after coming in contact with a family member who had attended the single source event in New Delhi in March. The family was previously tested and the results were negative late last month. However, the patient rushed to the hospital on his own on Sunday night after experiencing fever and cold symptoms, A.L. Meenakshi Sundaram, Dean, Pudukottai Government Medical College Hospital said. The patient hails from Merattunilai in Arimalam and the entire locality has been cordoned off.
Nagapattinam
A middle-aged woman who had been working as a tour guide in Velankanni has tested positive on Monday. The woman, a resident of Pookkara street, had suffered from fever and cold for a few days and had visited the Government Headquarters Hospital here where she tested positive, official sources said.
