Ten patients - four from Tiruchi district, three from Tiruvarur and three from Pudukottai - tested positive for COVID-19 in the central region on Friday.
Of the four who tested positive in Tiruchi were three of a same family who returned from Chennai and the fourth patient was a 28-year-old policeman belonging to Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion. He hails from Tiruchi and contact tracing to see the source of the infection is on, sources at the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital said.
Apart from him, a 80-year-old man, his wife, a 72-year-old woman and their 36-year-old daughter, who had returned to the district from Chennai, also tested positive and have been admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi hospital.
In Pudukottai, a jewel appraiser of a Tamilnad Mercantile Bank branch in the town and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19 and were admitted to Ranees Hospital for treatment. The private bank had been closed for a week and disinfectants sprayed as a follow-up measure, Collector P. Uma Maheswari said.
The appraiser voluntarily came to the Pudukottai Medical College Hospital for medical examination on Thursday after he fell sick a couple of days ago. He and his wife tested positive, the Collector said adding that their son was a van driver who had gone to Tiruchi and Thanjavur. Swab tests from the appraiser's son would be taken, the Collector said.
In Tiruvarur, three men aged 38, 28 and 24 tested positive for the infection, and were admitted to Tiruvarur Government Medical College.
Meanwhile, five positive patients were discharged from the District Headquarters Hospital in Perambalur on Friday. The patients were given a warm send off by hospital officials who presented the individuals with fruit platters. The GH has only other positive patient undergoing treatment.
In Ariyalur, 350 of the 355 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have been discharged so far and five persons are undergoing treatment. As on Friday, 20 villages in the district have been cordoned off as containment zones. Throat swab samples have been lifted from 35 people, including 31 who visited their nearest Primary Healthcare Centre with cold and fever symptoms.
