BENGALURU: The Jubilant Life Sciences employee at Nanjangud who tested positive for the new coronavirus, was “not infected by the contaminated surface” of the medical import from China he had received on behalf of his company on March 15, according to the health department.
“We got the swabs of the cargo surface tested at the National Institute of Virology laboratory in Bengaluru and the tests have come negative. Infection through surface contamination is ruled out,” State Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Jawaid Akhtar said.
He told TNIE that there was gel and powder in the cargo. “Since the virus is not known to survive in powder, we have sent swabs of the gel to the NIV, Pune for testing, because we don’t have the protocols. The results are awaited,” he said. Replying to a question whether the employee (Patient 52) might have been infected by one of the firm’s visitors from China and whether the health authorities with help from police are looking into Jubilant’s visitors log book, Akhtar said the possibility “cannot be ruled out.” “The Mysuru district administration has examined the visitors log book of Jubilant.
It is possible that a mildly infected visitor from China may have visited Jubilant just before India banned travel to and fro China,” Akhtar added. After the patient was tested positive for COVID-19 on March 26, as many as 24 employees of Jubilant and their relatives had tested positive turning Nanjangud into a COVID- 19 cluster. The firm has been sealed and around 1,400 employees have been placed under quarantine. “Jubilant Life Sciences manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for many generic drugs and imports lot of raw material from China including its Hubei province, which was the epicentre of COVID-19. The Jubilant employee had received the consignment of raw material from China for the company on March 15 and fell ill two days later. On March 26, he had tested positive for COVID-19,” said another source.