TIRUCHY: A man who has been admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) over symptoms of Mpox has tested negative for the virus, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday.
Addressing media persons in Chennai, the minister further said samples of the 27-year-old patient, who flew down to Tiruchy from Sharjah on Deepavali, instead revealed that he has contracted chickenpox. To confirm the diagnosis of the King Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research in Chennai, his samples have been further sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The results are awaited, he added.
Meanwhile, security at MGMGH has been heightened after the patient, who is being treated at the special ward, “escaped” from the premises on Friday. The 27-year-old escaped to his native in Tiruvarur before the hospital authorities and the police “convinced” him to return and remain in isolation, sources said.
While officials avoided comment on how the patient “escaped” from MGMGH, sources said he was convinced into returning by pointing to the facilities available at the Tiruchy government hospital to treat him of the viral disease. Following his return the same day, surveillance, particularly outside the ward where he is being treated, has been heightened with the help of the police.