Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh told TNM that Tamil Nadu has decided to test people from certain states.
Tamil Nadu’s second case of coronavirus appears to be a “domestic case”. Health officials say the 20-year-old man who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur had gone to Delhi to take a train to Chennai. He boarded the train on March 10 and arrived two days later on March 12.
Refusing to give details of the train that he traveled in, stating that it was cause panic, the Health Minister on Wednesday said, “The second patient didn’t have symptoms when he came on the train.”
However, the youth, who is a hairdresser and was looking for work in Chennai, presented with severe symptoms of COVID-19 including respiratory distress only on the night of March 16. The following morning – March 17 – the patient admitted himself at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai, which is the nodal hospital in the state for the coronavirus.
“The patient is stable. We are tracing his contact history. The first case (in Tamil Nadu) came from Muscat (in Oman). This patient has come from Delhi,” said Health Minister Vijayabaskar, appealing to residents to avoid all travel.
Following the second confirmed case in the state, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh told TNM that Tamil Nadu has decided to test people from certain states.
Health Minister Vijayabaskar also said that screening of domestic passengers would begin in Tamil Nadu’s airports.
According to reports, officials suspect that the patient may have contracted the infection during the train journey or in Delhi. However, given that Rampur in Uttar Pradesh borders Nepal, the spread of coronavirus from the neighbouring country cannot be ruled out.
Tamil Nadu’s first case was a 45-year-old man who arrived from Muscat in Oman. He tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on March 7. After his two samples tested negative, he was discharged on Tuesday (March 17). His contacts were traced, and his family were also quarantined, said officials.
Source: The News Minute