3rd from same IT co, 2 from Yavatmal test +ve for coronavirus

NAGPUR/YAVATMA: One more suspected patient from Nagpur and two from Yavatmal tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, taking the number of confirmed cases from Vidarbha to six.
A 75-year-old man, who was kept in the isolation ward at general hospital in Buldhana due to symptoms of coronavirus infection, died on Saturday. He had recently returned from Saudi Arabia. His swab samples have been dispatched to Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH) in Nagpur.The report is likely to come by Monday.
The number of positive cases from Vidarbha is likely to increase as the administration will now test the family members and close contacts of the patients.
Divisional commissioner Sanjeev Kumar said that the suspected patient from Nagpur who tested positive on Saturday is a 43-year-old male colleague of the city’s first Covid-19 patient, an employee of an IT company. Another colleague of the first patient had tested positive on Friday. With this, three associates of the IT company who had travelled to USA have tested positive so far. The first suspect’s wife has already tested positive on Friday.
Now, Nagpur has four Covid-19 positive patients. Three of them are admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) while the first patient is being treated at IGGMCH.
The two patients from Yavatmal confirmed on Saturday were part of the 10 tourists — Kelapur (3), Ghatanji (3) and Yavatmal (4) tehsils — who had returned along with a Pune couple from Dubai on March 1. Six of them are males and four females.
One of them, a 17-year-old male tourist, had left for Pune where he tested positive along with the Pune couple. They are admitted to Naidu Hospital there.
The remaining nine tourists were admitted to the isolation ward of Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College and Hospital in Yavatmal on March 11. Their swab samples were tested at IGGMCH on Friday. Four of them tested negative on Friday evening while results for remaining five were inconclusive. Their samples were tested again on Saturday.
Out of the five suspected patients, two have tested positive, confirmed district collector of Yavatmal MD Singh. The collector has already issued a red alert in the district. The close contacts of the positive patients will now be called to Yavatmal GMC and their swab samples will be sent to Nagpur.
Later in the evening, six of the seven suspected patients who were tested negative were discharged from the isolation ward in GMCH Yavatmal. One suspected patient developed symptoms and was detained in the isolation ward where the two positive patients are admitted. His swab samples will be sent for further tests, said dean Dr Milind Kamble. The six discharged will remain in home isolation for another 14 days, he said.
The 75-year-old deceased from Buldhana was suspected of having coronavirus infection and died during treatment. Divisional deputy director of health services for Akola, Dr Riyaz Faruqui, told TOI that the person was in Saudi Arabia for religious purposes.
“The patient was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure and his age was more than 75. He was ill since returning from Saudi. He was first admitted to a private hospital after he complained of high blood pressure. As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to isolation ward of the Buldhana general hospital for symptoms of coronavirus on Saturday morning. He died at 4.20pm on Saturday,” said Dr Faruqui.
The two suspected patients from Chandrapur have tested negative. The tests were performed at IGGMCH on Saturday. The patients, a husband-wife duo who had returned from Dubai, had themselves reported to the civil hospital after developing symptoms of coronavirus infection. “They were treated at the civil hospital and were later shifted to isolation ward in a private hospital as per their request. They have been discharged after their reports came negative,” said civil surgeon Dr ND Rathod.
Chandrapur district collector has directed all the multiplex, gyms, swimming pools, gyms, cultural halls and theaters to carry out preventive measures for coronavirus spread. If needed, administration can issue directives for closure of movie theatres and cultural halls, the collector said.
The collector has reserved all the rest houses in the district and declared them quarantine centers. All cultural, political, religious and sports events in the district have been cancelled till further orders.