11 more test +ve for Covid-19

Coimbatore: Eleven people, two of them contacts of the 28-year-old man who died of Covid-19 on Sunday, tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the district on Tuesday, even as 11 people were discharged from the ESI Hospital. Eight of the new patients have travel histories. Health department officials are on a drive to trace and test contacts of the new cases.
The state government, however, declared only two people positive in the district and one in neighbouring Tirupur in the media bulletin, taking the district’s Covid-19 tally to 183.
Among the new cases are a 17-year-old girl from Namakkal, who flew into the city from New Delhi, and three men aged 51, 33 and 40 years, who were tested at Karumathampatti check post as they had a travel history to Chennai.
A 61-year-old woman from Karamadai and a 38-year-old man from Thudiyalur, both of them with a travel history to Trichy, and a 38-year-old man from Ramanathapuram with a travel history to Chennai are also among the new cases. A health department official said, “These three voluntarily went to the ESI Hospital to test for Covid-19.”
The remaining cases include a 48-year-old woman from Ramanathapuram who went to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) with flu-like symptoms, and two contacts of the deceased patient. “They are his neighbours in Chinniampalayam. They are suffering from fever as well,” the official said.
Sources said at least four more contacts of the deceased patient might have contracted the virus, but their results were yet to be declared.
A source with CMCH said, “After the death of the 28-year-old man, nine people from his area came to us saying they had met him recently and that they were having flu-like symptoms. While two of them were found to be symptomatic and positive, we are re-investigating the results of another four.”
Health officials have collected samples from another 35 people, including the family members, colleagues and neighbours of the deceased, from Chinniampalayam.
Meanwhile, 11 people have recovered from Covid-19 and were discharged from the ESI Hospital on Tuesday. Among the discharged are two pregnant women and a cancer patient. Hospital dean Dr Nirmala said they hadn’t any critical cases even in the new batch of patients. A total of 309 patients have been recovered and discharged from the hospital till date.
Dr Nirmala said while they had been seeing an increase in the number of symptomatic patients, the recovery rate was still at 100%. Referring to the 48-year-old throat cancer patient, she said, “Like all cancer patients, his immunity was expected to be low and he was treated like a high-risk patient. But his body responded well to our anti-viral treatment. He is now free of Covid-19 and can return to his cancer treatment.” He also did not require extra oxygen, she said.