“Results of his two consecutive samples taken 24 hrs apart are tested negative,” the TN Health Department bulletin states.
The latest bulletin from Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department, announces that the one COVID-19 (coronavirus) positive patient admitted in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai is now stable and under continuous observation.
“Results of his two consecutive samples taken 24 hrs apart are tested negative. Hence the passenger and the contact has been stepped down from isolation ward. Health status of his contacts under home quarantine are stable,” reads the bulletin.
Going by the report, the state does not have any active COVID-19 cases. Currently, 2,635 passengers are under home quarantine for 28 days and 24 are under hospital isolation.
According to Minister for Health and Family Welfare C Vijayabaskar, 147 samples have been tested so far of which 95 turned out to be negative and 51 are under process. Only one case has tested positive for COVID-19 so far in the state. The minister also tweeted that there are 1,120 beds in the isolation wards in the state.
#COVID19 TN stat 17.3.20 : Screened Passengers- 184486 , Under Followup – 2635, Beds in isolation wards- 1120, Admissions- 24, samples tested – 147, Negative-95, 1 positive (old case), under process- 51 #TN_Together_AgainstCorona #Vijayabaskar #CVB
— Dr C Vijayabaskar (@Vijayabaskarofl) March 17, 2020
According to a report in The Times of India (ToI), engineering college hostels and government training centres may turn into quarantine centres for suspected COVID-19 cases in the state. So far, at the quarantine facility at Poonamallee, 40 have been quarantined.
Dr S Raghunandhan, director of Institute of Internal Medicine at Madras Medical College, told ToI that the government will be coming up with another quarantine facility in Tambaram. Hostel buildings of engineering colleges have been identified for this purpose.
The minister tweeted earlier that he had inspected Rajiv Gandhi hospital in the city and found it to be well-equipped.
Inspection at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital #MMC, to assess preparedness for #Covid19 & discussions with the Dean for setting up Lab at RGGH to test corona samples #TNHealth #Vijayabaskar #TN_Together_AgainstCorona
— Dr C Vijayabaskar (@Vijayabaskarofl) March 17, 2020
On Monday, 14 passengers who reached Chennai International Airport from European countries via Dubai, were taken to a public healthcare centre in Poonamallee to be kept under observation for coronavirus symptoms. According to reports, they have been discharged for not showing any COVID-19 symptoms and will be observed under home quarantine.
In Tamil Nadu, there are four testing centres – King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Guindy Chennai; Theni VRDL; Thiruvarur VRDL; and Tirunelveli VRDL.
Source: The News Minute