BHUBANESWAR: At a time when the religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz is being blamed for spread of novel coronavirus in different States, a youth from the community in Odisha set an example for others of his ilk. The 29-year-old chef, a native of Bhadrak and fourth COVID-19 patient of the State, remained in self-quarantine and did not attend community gathering.
The chef has travel history to Dubai. He tested positive on Tuesday, 12 days after he landed here and was asymptomatic till he was detected with the virus. Since he adhered to the home quarantine guidelines issued by the Government, not many could come in contact with him during the period. Before the Government could impose lockdown preventing congregation at religious places, he had kept himself away from offering Namaz at local mosque which he would never miss.
Many of his locality were unaware about his arrival till health officials accompanied by a team of police reached his house on Tuesday night to take him to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack where he is undergoing treatment. He has not yet developed any symptoms. He had normal diet that includes Upama and peas curry in breakfast and rice, roti and chicken curry for lunch.
The district monitoring team, however, was keeping a close watch on the youth after he registered his name through 104 helpline. The Additional District Medical Officer was in constant touch with him. Since he was about to complete quarantine period, his swab samples were collected for tests.
“Although asymptomatic, his nasal and throat swab samples were collected for testing as he had returned from Dubai. Only seven contacts of the fourth patient have been traced and they are in isolation,” Government chief spokesperson Subroto Bagchi said.
The youth who works as a chef at a Shaikh’s house in Dubai had travelled back to Odisha via Kolkata by Emirates airline (Flight-EK570) on March 18. He took a taxi from Kolkata Airport to Howrah Station and returned to Bhadrak in East Coast Express in Coach No. S-11. He hired an auto-rickshaw to reach home on the same day.
“The area where his family stays is thickly populated. Had he attended Namaz at local mosque and not maintained the quarantine protocol, he could have transmitted virus to many. He is an example for others. If we get similar cooperation from others who have returned from abroad or virus-affected States, we can prevent its spread in Odisha,” said a district official.
2nd COVID-19 positive recovers
The second COVID-19 positive patient of the state has recovered and the government has decided to discharge him from AIIMS-Bhubaneswar where he was undergoing treatment. The condition of the first patient has also improved and he will soon be discharged after certain clinical formalities. Sources said the second patient, a 20-year-old student, who had returned from UK and tested positive on March 19, has been tested negative twice in the last 24 hours.
“The youth has recovered completely and tested negative for coronavirus. With this, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the State has come down to three,” said sources at the Health and Family Welfare department. As per the protocol, a COVID positive patient will be discharged only after two consecutive samples taken during 24 hours are tested negative, they said. As many as 290 samples were tested in three facilities in the State on Wednesday and one was positive.