TIRUCHY: Families of 4,120 persons are under home quarantine in Tiruchy. Home quarantine stickers have been pasted outside the houses of 2,262 persons and would be pasted outside the homes of their contacts by Friday night, said District Collector S Sivarasu. These are passengers who travelled to and from foreign countries from March 1 to March 22 The figures are a marked increase in the numbers under home quarantine, as till Wednesday, only 624 persons were quarantined.
A dentist working in Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) in Tiruchy was admitted to the isolation ward on Friday. He travelled to Madurai recently and felt uneasy. To make sure he did not have coronavirus, he admitted himself to the hospital. His sample was sent for testing and came back negative. As of Friday evening, six patients were in the isolation ward, all of whom tested negative.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old who tested positive for COVID-19 is stable and responding well to treatment, said the collector. He already had symptoms before he came to India. The next sample would be taken on March 31. He is being treated with a combination of drugs, lots of fluids and citrus fruits. “He had symptoms three days before he took the flight. Therefore, the virus has been in his body for nine days, but he is stable. He is recovering well, no fever,” said Sivarasu.
The patient had travelled to Tiruchy from Dubai on March 22 on an Air India Flight. There were 86 other passengers on the flight and six crew. On Thursday, the authorities first contacted the 18 people who sat in the three rows adjacent to the patient. Two of the passengers were from Tiruchy. Authorities visited their homes and checked their condition on Thursday night., Fifteen others from six Tamil Nadu districts were traced and checked. The passengers were traced to Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai and Perambalur. They have all been advised home quarantine and stickers and seals have been pasted on their houses and hands, respectively. The other passengers are also being traced, said the collector. The pilot and cabin crew, who are in different States, have been alerted.