KRISHNAGIRI: Two women from Shoolagiri in Krishnagiri district tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. This comes days after a man who returned to the district from Puttaparthi tested positive for the virus.
The man was shifted to Salem for treatment and his case was listed against Salem district as 'imported', allowing Krishnagiri to retain its status as a green zone -- a district with no COVID-19 cases.
The cases reported on Tuesday are of a 52-year-old woman and 60-year-old woman. Health officials said both had developed fever and cough in last week. Following this, their blood samples and nasal swabs were sent to Institute of Vector Control and Zoonoses, Hosur. The government declared the results of the tests on Tuesday evening.
Officials suspect that the victims contracted the virus from someone at the Shoolagiri vegetable market. Hence, 70 samples were collected from the market area and the area has been designated a containment zone. The women were admitted to the Government Krishnagiri District Headquarters Hospital on Tuesday and they are asymptomatic.
15 cases in Namakkal
Namakkal district reported 15 new COVID-19 positive cases here on Tuesday. Of this, two are women, and with this the total positive cases have gone up to 76. A couple of days ago, the health officials at Thimmanayakkanpatti check-post had collected blood samples from four lorry drivers and two women. They were tested positive on Tuesday. Out of the 15, three drivers were from Namakkal and one is from Tiruchy. Out of the two women, one is the wife of the lorry driver.
The driver was already infected, said health officials. Moreover, a 46-year-old lorry driver from Karaikurichi Pudur village in Namakkal was also tested positive for the infection in Tenkasi. Later he was admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical College. The other persons from different regions of Namakkal district while one person is from Erode.
Health department sources said that the lorry driver had illegally transported beedi leaves to Alangulam from Mumbai. Four loadmen and an accountant have been quarantined in Alangulam