Officials reveal Nagapattinam's COVID-19 positive doctor’s details, request people in contact to come forward

The administration has officially revealed the identity of the Nagapattinam-based retired government physician cum private medical practitioner who recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Representational Image. (Photo | AP)
Representational Image. (Photo | AP)

NAGAPATTINAM: Nagai district administration has revealed the identity of a COVID-19 patient who is a 73-year-old doctor. The officials appeal to the public to come out if they had met or received treatment from the physician in the past three weeks.

The administration has officially revealed the identity of the Nagapattinam-based retired government physician cum private medical practitioner who recently tested positive for COVID-19. The doctor's name is Dr C Kumarappan (73).

District Collector Praveen P Nair said, “We are compelled to disclose the details of the patient Dr C Kumarappan. It is our last resort in unearthing the contact history, tracking and finding them all before the virus spreads. We request the people who had met him, or got treated by him or had a medical consultation from him in the past three weeks, to come forward and contact us, so that we can help in treating them.”

Malar Clinic located in
Sattaiyappar Keezha Veedhi Street
(Photo|EPS/ R Shreevardhan)

The physician Dr C Kumarappan was actively practising in his clinic named ‘Malar Clinic’, located in Sattaiyappar Keezha Veedhi Street in Nagapattinam since his retirement from government services about 15 years ago. The clinic was closed around March 26. However, he had continued to treat patients who had come to meet him, at his house in Kadampadi in Velipalayam for about two following weeks. Ironically, the patients were also those who had visited him to check for COVID-19 symptoms.

Dr Kumarappan started feeling symptoms like sore throat and difficulty in breathing, around last week. Dr Kumarappan then met the doctors in Nagapattinam Government General Hospital for treatment. His samples were sent for a test in Government Tiruvarur Medical College, where it was revealed on April 9, that Dr Kumarappan was 'COVID-19 Positive'.

Dr Kumarappan’s details were kept confidential similar to the details of any other COVID-19 patient, until Sunday. Dr Kumarappan gave the officials a list of a few people who had met him, whom he recollected from his memory. The officials tried to find out Dr Kumarappan's complete contact history – a process which they admitted as ‘gruelling’ and ‘required public support.

Then, they decided that ‘Protection of the Patient’s Identity’ would not help any longer, when they have to track them all as soon as possible before it becomes a 'community spread'. Nagapattinam district administration came up with his details and an appeal to the public on Sunday. “We have tracked over 50 people so far, including some of his patients, family members, employees, neighbours and those who delivered essential items at his house. We do not rule out that a potential COVID-19 patient, from whom Dr Kumarappan may have got infected, is still out there. We now want everyone who had met him, to be tested and treated,” said a senior medical official.

Nagapattinam district administration has requested the people who had met Dr Kumarappan to contact the officials through the contact numbers 9751425002 and 9500493022.

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