PUDUCHERRY: After a gap of 15 days, Puducherry registered another positive COVID-19 case when the 18-year-old boy tested positive for COVID 19 on Saturday.
The boy is the son of a COVID-19 positive patient.
Director of Health services Dr. S Mohan Kumar told newspersons that the boy hailing from Moolakkulam was admitted to the Indira Gandhi Government Medical college, the COVID hospital here and is being treated.
Moolakulam area is already in the confinement zone and it will be extended by another 28 days following the detection of the case.
With today's case, the total positive case reported in the union territory rose to nine and active cases to four.
Of the nine, one patient aged 72 from the Mahe region died in a hospital in Kerala. Another COVID-19 patient from the Mahe region was cured.
Six COVID-19 cases are in Puducherry region of which three were cured and discharged. No positive cases were reported in Karaikal and Yanam regions of the union territory.
Dr Mohan Kumar said that today the contacts of the two positive cases from Moolakulam have been tested.
All the four contacts of one patient proved negative and one out of the three contacts of the second patient tested positive raising the total number of active cases to four.
He said several people from Tamilnadu were crossing the border citing treatment as a reason and hence, it was decided to post a medical team at the borders and check the patients coming.
Only those who need emergency treatment will be allowed in and others would be asked to take treatment in hospitals in their respective areas, he added.
The union government had directed the administration to register a non-bailable case against those who attack medical staffs working in combating COVID 19.
The case attracts 7 years of imprisonment. For this purpose, a Nodal officer will be appointed in the union territory.
Most probably police personnel to whom the medial staffs could apprise their grievance for appropriate action would be initiated.
Hence, doctors, nurses and para-medical staff could discharge their duty without fear or apprehension, he added.
He said the RTPCR test was being conducted at JIPMER hitherto and for the last two days it is being held in the IGMCRI also.
The Rapid Test Kits procured from the central government have been directed by ICMR to stop its use till it is cleared by ICMR.
The Rapid Test kits have been sent to the VCRC for analysis of the quality of the kits.
The result will be forwarded to the centre and after getting green signal from the centre, Rapid Tests would be conducted, he added.
Till then, RTPCR test would be conducted, he said adding that nearly 50 tests are being conducted a day at IGMCRI and in batches government employees would get themselves tested at the rate of five to twenty per day, he said.