A containment zone was put up around Rayakottai flyover here after a government doctor with the Villupuram government hospital, who had visited Krishnagiri during the weekend and returned to Villupuram on Monday, tested positive for COVID-19. The doctor is reported to have given his swab for test on Tuesday at the time of joining work and the tests returned positive on Wednesday.
The incident has raised a red flag over the travel permission to a doctor with a government hospital from a hotspot during the lockdown; and his visit to his house here to meet his wife and father-in-law, fully aware of the risks.
Incidentally, the wife, who is also a government medical staff, had not alerted the authorities of the arrival of a person from a hot spot, even as clear instructions were issued by the district administration over intimation of new arrivals into the district. According to sources, the doctor was given permission because he was newly married.
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In its wake, the health department was mobilised to disinfect the area, and it collected swab samples of the doctor’s wife and father-in-law. Swabs of nine tenants of the building they stayed in was also collected for COVID-19 test.
An official source said, “the doctor is believed to have travelled during the quarantine period. Doctors are given some days of rest and some may travel to meet their families”.
The State government had issued strict guidelines for travel passes only for funerals, medical emergencies and weddings.
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S. Prasad adds from Villupuram
A Health Department official said the doctor had been admitted to the isolation ward in the Villupuram Government Medical College and Hospital (VGMCH).
The doctor had visited Krishnagiri last Thursday after the end of his quarantine period and returned on Monday.
Though he showed no symptoms, a COVID-19 test was, however, done on Tuesday while he was on afternoon duty in the GH and he tested positive.
The doctor was posted in the out-patient ward in the Villupuram GH for three nights. He had attended to two patients and both of them have tested negative.
The doctor was staying alone in Villupuram and he had most probably contracted the infection from outside the hospital, the official said.
The samples of all healthcare providers who were on duty along with the doctor have been tested. Their results are negative.
Area sealed
Meanwhile, the district administration has sealed the residential locality in Villupuram where the doctor stayed and declared it as a containment zone.