Tamil Nadu reports third positive COVID-19 patient

Tamil Nadu on Thursday reported its third positive case of coronavirus with a 21-year-old student who arrived from Dublin in Ireland testing positive.

The patient, who was screened at the airport and home quarantined on his arrival on March 17, reported to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGH) with fever on March 18 following which he was admitted, and his blood samples taken.

“21-year-old student from Dublin, Ireland tested positive for COVID-19. On his arrival on March 13 at Chennai, he was screened and home quarantined. On March 18, he reported to RGGH with symptoms. Samples sent for testing yesterday and it was confirmed positive today. Patient is stable in isolation at RGGH,” Health Minister Vijayabhaskar said.

On Wednesday, a 20-year-old youth, hailing from Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh who came here on a train, tested positive for COVID-19. The first patient, who tested for COVID-19 virus on March 7 but tested negative in subsequent diagnosis, was discharged from hospital on Tuesday and is currently under 14-day home quarantine.

The second patient, hailing from Rampur district in UP, boarded a train from Delhi on March 10 night and reached here on March 12 morning. Doctors at the RGGH told DH that the patient was doing fine and is in good spirits.

“He asked for some specific food which was provided to him. Since the patient converses only in Hindi, a doctor fluent in the language is in touch with him. The doctor keeps talking to him over the phone and the patient is stable,” doctors said.

The state has so far tested 320 people and has put 3,481 under home quarantine and 39 in hospitals after screening. Of 320, 235 are processed. While 232 samples were tested negative, three have come positive (including one discharged).

Vijayabhaskar said the state has so far screened 1,94,236 passengers at four airports in the state – Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli.