Three people with travel history to the US and Switzerland tested positive for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, taking the number of positive patients in the state to 15. All three who tested positive in the state are from Chennai and have been isolated at two government hospitals in the city.
The fresh cases were reported even as a 54-year-old man from Madurai, who has no travel history outside Tamil Nadu, tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday night, leading to fears of community transmission in the state.
The 12th patient with no travel history was “critical” due to comorbid conditions like diabetes and hypertension, Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar told the Assembly and asked people to stay indoors as Covid-19 was spreading in a “lightning speed.”
He wrote on Twitter that all three, who tested positive, have travel history to the USA and Switzerland. While a 74-year-old male and 52-year-old female, both returned from the US, are admitted to the Stanley Medical College Hospital, a 25-year-old female who returned from Switzerland is isolated at Kilpauk Medical College Hospital here.
The state has so far placed 12,519 passengers who 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.
Published 24 March 2020, 12:09 IST