A 54-year-old man from Madurai, who has no travel history outside Tamil Nadu, on Monday tested positive for COVID-19 as the number of patients affected by the virus in the state rose to 12. He is among three patients whose test results came on Monday as the state geared up for a complete lockdown from Tuesday evening.
The patient, who has “uncontrollable diabetes and hypertension”, is admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai. As positive case of the patient with no travel history led to fears of community transmission, Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar said the government will track the source of his infection and take necessary steps.
“The 12th patient who tested positive is quarantined at government hospital in Madurai. He has no travel history outside Tamil Nadu. We are investigating as to how he contracted the virus. We will get back to you once we trace the source of his infection,” Vijayabhaskar said.
The minister said the patient has “uncontrollable diabetes and hypertension”, but his condition is stable.
“The patient has COPD and cardiac problems. Since he has comorbid conditions like diabetes and heart problems, it is risky (for the patient),” the Minister said, adding that efforts are on to find out whether he came in contact with anyone who returned from abroad or other affected states within the country.
Besides the 54-year-old man, a 25-year-old youth and 48-year-old man, both returnees from London, have tested positive for COVID-19 and are quarantined at Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital (RGGH) and ESIC Hospital in Coimbatore.
The state has so far placed 12,519 passengers are under home quarantine for 28 days and 21 asymptomatic passengers from highly affected countries are being quarantined in quarantine facilities near airport and 89 are under hospital isolation.
“Till now 552 samples have been taken from the passengers and sent for testing. The samples of 512 passengers are processed of which 503 samples are negative, 9 samples are positive for COVID-19 infection and 40 samples are under process,” an update from the Health Department said.
For the first time, the update contained primary details of the patients and their brief travel history. The Tamil Nadu government had faced criticism for not sharing “enough details” about the patients.