Four new COVID-19 cases, including one in Mahe, were reported in Puducherry on Wednesday.
With this, the tally rose to 18 in the Union Territory , including the five patients from Tamil Nadu being treated at Jipmer. Tests conducted on a family of four, who returned from Abu Dhabi via Chennai, returned positive results for the mother and daughter.
Meanwhile, a youth who arrived from Maharashtra tested positive in Mahe and a person in Villianur in the city was diagnosed with the infection. During contact tracing, the person from Villianur was found to have been in contact with the patient in Arumbarthapuram.
At present, there are nine patients at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMCRI), one in Karaikal, three in Mahe and five in Jipmer.
“Though Puducherry had kept the coronavirus largely under control, an increase in cases once people begin returning from other States, and overseas destinations, was anticipated. This points to the need for testing returnees before they proceed to their homes,” Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said.
