CHENNAI/COIMBATORE/ERODE: Eight more persons tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the total tally to 50. Three of these are from the same household, including a 10-month-old baby boy and his mother who is a doctor. All the patients are said to have had direct or indirect contact with the two Thai nationals and their Indian friend, who earlier tested positive for COVID-19 and are being treated at Erode IRT Hospital. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar confirmed the news on Twitter. “The persons were identified through contact tracing. All of them have been isolated for treatment,” he tweeted.
Doctor now patient
Of the eight persons, four are in Erode and four in Coimbatore. The first patient is a 29-year-old female doctor working with the Southern Railway. A native of Kerala, she was working in Erode until she was transferred to Podanur in Coimbatore on March 21. She reported for duty on March 23, and the very next day she fell sick. She was admitted to the ESI Hospital where she is currently under treatment. Two tests were done and both showed her positive for the virus.
Three of her contacts — her 10-month-old baby, 59-year-old mother, and 51-year-old domestic help — have also tested positive. They are under isolation at the ESI Hospital. Her 31-year-old husband and two-year-old child have tested negative. Sources say she could have contracted the virus from a former railway employee who was in contact with the Thai nationals. The employee, a 63-year-old man, later tested positive and is undergoing treatment at the IRT Hospital. The man reportedly visited the Erode Railway Hospital where this doctor was practising. A press release stated that the doctor’s family, which tested positive at ESI Hospital, was previously residing at Railway Colony in Erode. On Sunday morning, the area was sealed and disinfected.
50
Tally in Tamil Nadu rose on Sunday. So far one person died and five have been discharged after recovery