Madurai patient lied to officials about movements
TIRUNELVELI: Tirunelveli health officials revealed to Express on Monday that the 43-year-old man who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday had lied to officials about his movements. The man, who arrived at Madurai airport from Dubai on March 20, came with throat infection to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital on Saturday night.Health officials said he had first told them that he had been observing home quarantine at his friend’s house in Radhapuram since his return.
Based on that, officials started disinfecting works at Valliyur and Radhapuram regions. However, the details he had given didn’t match up against what they learnt on the ground. Officials said they learnt the man had stayed at Hotel Aryas in the town for five days.
“The patient admitted that out of fear he gave us false information,” a senior district health official said. Officials have now disinfected the entire hotel building and have quarantined the hotel staff. The man is also learnt to have moved around in Tirunelveli, so officials are now trying to trace all the people he had come into contact. Collector Shilpa Prabhakar, who refused to reveal the places the man had visited, said that they had all been disinfected.