It was a contest between a glimmer of hope and the grip of fear among people in Telangana on Wednesday. The news of the samples of the four family members of the person from Hyderabad — who is the first from the State to test positive for SARS-CoV2 (coronavirus) — testing negative came as a glimmer of hope. However, suspense on COVID-19 status (positive or negative) of two other samples from the city continues to worry people.

One of the two samples is that of a woman software employee working in a company in Hi-Tec City. She has travel history to Italy. Sources said she had reached the city towards the end of February. While messages circulated on social media that she had tested positive for the virus, official announcement on the result would be available by Thursday evening.

The other person is a sanitation worker at Apollo Hospitals who came in contact with the index (first positive) COVID-19 case.

Out of the 47 persons whose samples were tested at ICMR’s laboratory at Gandhi Hospital on Tuesday, 45 tested negative and they were discharged from the hospital. Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender said they sent the remaining two samples to the National Institute of Virology at Pune for clarity.

Meanwhile, the medical condition of the index case from Telangana was stable.

As per protocol, if a sample collected form a person in the State tests negative, it is announced by the State Health department. In case a sample tests positive, the sample has to be sent to NIV-Pune for confirmation. If it tests positive again, the announcement is made by the Central government. The process was followed in declaring the first positive case from Telangana.

Also read: COVID-19 scare grips Telangana

On Wednesday, 36 persons with the symptoms of the virus were admitted to the Gandhi Hospital (32 suspects) and Fever Hospital (four suspects). When tests were conducted, 31 tested negative. Results of 43 more samples are awaited. All of them are kept under isolation at government hospitals. Besides, 55 others were kept under home isolation on Wednesday.

As lakhs of people in the State were gripped by anxiety, the Health Minister tried to infuse hope into them, stating that four family members of the index case had tested negative for the virus.

“If the family members who lived with him did not contract the infection, evacuation (of employees) from buildings is not a good step. This virus does not spread through air. There is chance of the virus spreading if an infected person coughs, sneezes and the droplets fall into others’ nose, mouth, eyes,” Mr Rajender said..

Not everyone who stayed in the same room or travelled in same bus or train as an infected person would contract the virus, he said.