First coronavirus patient in Tamil Nadu quarantined

The 45-year-old man was tested positive for SARS-CoV-2

PTI05-03-2020_000176A Representational image. A medical official wears a protective suit and a mask to mitigate the spread of coronavirus inside a ward, specialised to receive virus-infected patients, at LNJP Hospital in New Delhi | PTI

A 45-year-old man from Kanchipuram district near Chennai has been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. He has been admitted to the isolation ward at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGH), in Chennai.

The patient had travelled to Muscat and Oman. Eight members of his family and 19 other persons whom he was in contact with have also been placed under observation.

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“#COVID19 positive for 45Y male who traveled from Oman.Due to d stringent screening process,we identified & isolated the Pt for further treatment @ RGGH Chennai. Pt is stable &under hospital observation,#TNHealth is fully functional to combat d situation. Pls avoid state of panic," Health Minister Dr C. Vijayabaskar tweeted on Saturday evening.

Blood samples of the family members have also been collected and sent for testing, according to the senior officials in the state health department.

According to the health department officials, his symptoms included fever and cough and laboured breathing. As his uneasiness persisted even after being treated by doctors in a hospital in Chennai, he was moved to the isolation ward in the RGGGH on Wednesday. His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing, after the test results at the Kings Institute in Guindy, Chennai, were inconclusive. The results, which arrived on Saturday from Pune, were positive. "Now, he has recovered. He is asymptomatic and stable," said the health department officials.

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Vijayabaskar also clarified there were no other positive cases of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu till Friday. Fifty-four samples were tested negative and 1,243 people were being monitored. The government has set up separate isolation wards with 300 beds for treating patients testing positive for COVID-19.

Thirty-nine people have been tested positive for COVID-19 in India so far.

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