Coronavirus in Kerala: Authorities tracing Italian's path & contacts in Varkala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: District collector K Gopalakrishnan has called for extreme vigil in Varkala where a tourist from Italy, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, had stayed. The collector said that the tourist who arrived in the city on February 27 stayed at a resort on the cliff and moved around the area for 15 days until his test results turned positive and he was put under isolation at the Medical College Hospital. The foreigner who visits Varkala every year enjoyed a personal rapport with shopkeepers and resorts. "People in Varkala have to be extremely cautious. Social distancing has to be complied with strictly,'' the collector said.
The tourist reached Moscow from Venice on February 26. On February 27 he arrived in Delhi, from where he took a domestic flight to Thiruvananthapuram. Gopalakrishnan said details of co-passengers who were on board the domestic flight are being collected. On March 10, he developed symptoms and he was taken to hospital by a shop owner in Varkala. His samples were collected for testing at the Medical College Hospital at Parippally, after which he returned to Varkala. When the results returned positive, he was shifted to the MCH isolation ward. The collector said that teams have been deployed to collect details on primary and secondary contacts and places where the foreigner travelled. There are reports of him attending a temple festival, but it needs to be confirmed, the collector said.
A special team from the MCH and district administration visited Varkala on Saturday. The team is collecting all possible information on places where the Italian tourist visited and persons he got into contact with over a period of 15 days. The team has been trying to garner as much information as possible from the tourist, who speaks only Italian. However, with language being a deterrent, collection of accurate data is proving arduous.
The task of collecting passenger information from February 27 is another concern. The private carrier has informed that they could furnish data of only the previous three days. The state government has sought the intervention of the ministry of civil aviation to collect data of all passengers who were on that flight. The collector said talks are on with higher authorities.
The taxi driver who ferried him to the resort in Varkala from Thiruvananthapuram airport, a Kashmiri friend who accompanied him to Paripplly MCH, the two auto drivers who transported them, and the resort manager have all been placed under house quarantine. Surveillance has also been initiated in Kollam where the tourist had travelled to give his test samples.