COIMBATORE: A 48-year-old man from Tirupur district tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday evening. He is at the isolation ward in the ESIC Hospital in Singanallur. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, who confirmed the developments, tweeted that the patient had returned from London on March 15 at Chennai International Airport.
When he was subjected to screening at the airport, he showed symptoms of the infection and was admitted to ESIC Hospital on March 16. Officials have not revealed how he travelled from Chennai to Coimbatore. Doctors at the hospital collected his throat swabs and sent them to King Institute in Chennai for testing. However, the result was negative.
When the fever did not recede, the Health Department tested him again. This time, the result was positive. As the test was done at an earlier stage, the results had come negative, the health officials said, adding that the man's condition is stable.
Sources told TNIE that his family members were home-quarantined and his driver was asked to do the same. They were told to inform the Health Department if they showed any symptoms.