On a day when Tamil Nadu recorded the first death of a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a 54-year-old man at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) in Madurai, eight more persons tested positive. Five of them are under treatment at the Government Medical College, Salem. With this, a total of 26 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in the State so far.
The five persons — four Indonesian nationals and their travel guide from Chennai — tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said all five have been under quarantine since March 22.
An 18-year-old boy, a contact of the second patient, is at RGGGH, a 63-year-old man who returned from Dubai, is at Wallajah GH, and a 66-year-old, a contact of Thai nationals, is at IRT Perundurai.
The Minister, in a tweet at 2.02 a.m., announced the death of the patient admitted to GRH. He said that the patient had a history of illness along with steroid-dependent Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension. The patient did not respond to treatment. He had earlier clarified to reporters that the man had come in contact with a group of Thai nationals, who were on a tour of the State. Two of them had tested positive for COVID-19 and are undergoing treatment at IRT, Perundurai.
A 45-year-old resident of Kancheepuram was discharged after treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The State’s second patient, a 20-year-old youth who travelled from Delhi to Chennai and tested positive for COVID-19, was recovering well at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Subsequent tests had returned negative, and he would be discharged in two days, the Minister tweeted.
The four Indonesian nationals had travelled to Salem via Delhi. A total of 70 persons who had come in contact with them have been quarantined. Their travel guide, a 63-year-old man, a resident of Chennai, had travelled with them.
The department has traced a total of 77 contacts of the 65-year-old man from Kotturpuram who tested positive on March 24. He had travelled from New Zealand to Chennai. He has co-morbid conditions and was admitted to an isolation facility in a private hospital.
Eighteen persons have been traced and quarantined for coming in contact with the 55-year-old woman, a resident of Saidapet, who is currently at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. A total of 51 contacts were traced and quarantined for the 25-year-old man, a resident of Alandur, who had travelled from London to Bengaluru airport. He is under treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
The Minister said, until now, all persons who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the State, either had a history of travel to an affected country or had contact with a person who had travelled to an affected country.
“The daily requirement of masks for all government hospitals in the State is nearly 60,000. Starting tomorrow, we have ensured that the supply chain of Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation is able to address this requirement every day,” the Minister said.
He inspected the quarantine facility at the Institute of Public Health in Poonamallee where 93 persons were being quarantined, while Health Secretary Beela Rajesh inspected the quarantine centre for 300 persons at the headquarters of Dakshin Bharat Area (army office) at Tambaram.
Admissions rise
The number of persons admitted to isolation wards has been increasing in the last few days. As on Wednesday, a total of 211 persons were admitted to hospitals across the State; an increase from 116 on Tuesday. The number of samples lifted for testing now stands at 890, of which 110 were under process. The Health department has placed a total of 15,492 persons under home quarantine for 28 days in the State. In addition, 86,644 passengers listed by the Bureau of Immigration were being monitored.
Presently, 104 asymptomatic passengers, who had travelled from highly affected countries, were under quarantine in quarantine facilities near the airport, according to a bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
More labs
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved one more testing facility for the State. The Government Rajaji Medical College, Madurai, will now test samples for COVID-19. With this, the State has a total of eight testing facilities in the government sector. The Indian Council of Medical Research has approved a private laboratory, Neuberg Ehrlich (Chennai) for COVID-19 testing.
Published - March 25, 2020 11:20 pm IST
