MADURAI/ERODE/NAGERCOIL: The swab test of eight Thailand nationals returned negative on Thursday, leaving officials none the wiser as to how the 54-year-old deceased man from Anna Nagar contracted the virus. Earlier, it was believed that the Thai nationals had transmitted the virus. A day after the death of the 54-year-old COVID-19 positive man, the Health Department traced the eight Thai nationals, along with two locals near Malaipatti in Alanganallur. The Thai nationals and the two locals have been quarantined at an undisclosed facility near Thoppur.
Collector TG Vinay said that the test results of all ten people have returned negative for COVID-19. “The deceased patient, being the first case in the State with no travel history, was presumed to have contracted the virus from the Thai nationals. We have traced around 200 contacts of the deceased. They are under home quarantine, and are being constantly monitored by our interdepartmental team,” he said. “Initially, a four-member team of Thai preachers had reached Delhi in January; they had been visiting several mosques in north India. Later, four more preachers joined them; they were received by the deceased person at Madurai Railway Station on March 12. The two locals assisted them with translation and itinerary.”
Third positive case in Erode
A 66-year-old man, who was in contact with the Thai natives, tested positive 19 at Perundurai IRT Medical College. The Deputy Director of Health Services said that the patient is being monitored at the isolation ward in the IRT Government Medical College and is stable. His family is under home quarantine and the officials deployed in the area have been monitoring them and they have not developed any symptoms so far, she added.
Dead man tests negative
The swab and blood tests of a 40-year-old Kuwait returnee who died at the COVID-19 isolation ward in the government Kanniyakumari medical college and hospital returned negative.