VILLUPURAM: Confusion continued to prevail in the case of a Delhi-based man, who has shifted to the quarantine ward again, after two test results came back negative. Health department officials are yet to clarify on how he recovered or if there was an error previously.
The 30-year-old man from Delhi allegedly came to Puducherry in search of a job and was arrested over an accident. After being released on bail on March 16, he had attempted to reach Delhi with the help of trucks, but the lockdown left him stranded in the district. As he developed COVID-19 symptoms, he was admitted to the GH here by police on April 6, but the next day, was released as he tested negative.
However, health officials found that he, along with three others, had tested positive in another test and sought help from police to trace all of them. While the other three were traced soon after, the Delhi-based man was missing.
A massive search began and on April 14, Villupuram police found him at a truck lay-by at Padalam near Maduranthagam in Chengalpattu district. A case too was filed against him. However, sources said test results again came back negative and he was shifted to the quarantine ward at Health Manpower Development Institute in Villupuram on Sunday. An official at the Villupuram district Health department said, “After he was re-admitted, two tests were taken and both came back negative. So he was shifted from the isolation ward to the quarantine ward and will be under observation for the next 14 days.”
A Medical College source said when he was first admitted, he tested negative and discharged before the second test came back positive. However, several questions remain unanswered. Was there a confusion in earlier tests? If he really was infected, how did he recover? Did he himself escape or did the health officials discharge him mistakenly, as claimed by police?
In search of job
The 30-year-old man from Delhi allegedly came to Puducherry in search of a job and was arrested over an accident. After being released on bail on March 16, he had attempted to reach Delhi with the help of trucks, but the lockdown left him stranded in the district. As he developed COVID-19 symptoms, he was admitted to the GH here by police