29 more positive cases in dist

TNN | Apr 6, 2020, 04:43 IST

Coimbatore/Nilgiris: Twenty-nine more people from Coimbatore have tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of virus affected people in the district to 58.
All the 29 who were declared positive for Covid-19 on Sunday had attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi. Health authorities said that the 29 are undergoing treatment at ESIC Hospital, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and government hospitals in Annur and Pollachi. “Their health condition is stable,” said a doctor from ESIC hospital.
As many as 22 of them are from the corporation limit, five from Annur and one each from Pollachi and Madukkarai.
The district health authorities are awaiting the results of 25 more people from Coimbatore whose samples have been sent for lab test.
Besides those from Coimbatore, patients from Nilgiris, Salem and Namakkal districts too added to the count of people affected by the virus in the western region on Sunday. In Nilgiris, four people were declared Covid-19 positive by the state health officials, while three were declared positive in Salem and one in Namakkal.
Health authorities in the Nilgiris said that the four who tested positive in the district were also attendees of Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) meet in New Delhi. The authorities had identified eight people who attended the meet and had sent the samples for testing. District collector J Innocent Divya said, “Four of them have been tested positive for coronavirus and the remaining, negative. Those tested negative would, however, continue to remain in hospital until they complete 14 days of isolation. After that, their throat swabs and blood samples would be sent for another test.”
Coimbatore health authorities said that 90 people from the district had attended the meeting in New Delhi and of which, 87 people were traced and isolated by the district administration. Among the 87 people, 56 have tested positive while the remaining turned negative. “Efforts are on to locate the three who have not been found,’’ the official said.
A health officer said that almost all the patients who tested positive on Sunday were asymptomatic and do not have any comorbid condition. “We are not sure whether they would develop symptoms as time passes or their immunity level is so high. It is yet to be identified,” he said
Only three persons – the 25-year-old student who returned from Spain, the Erode-based doctor and 48-year-old from Udumalpet – have symptoms and that also falls under the mild category, the doctor added.
The four who tested positive in Nilgiris were also shifted to the ESI Hospital in Coimbatore from the Ooty government headquarters hospital, where they had been kept under observation for the past six days. This was despite the government identifying three private hospitals in the Nilgiris for handling Covid-19 cases.
As on Sunday, 63 patients including four patients from Erode and one from Tirupur are undergoing treatment at the government hospitals in the district and 110 were tested negative for the virus, said an official from the health department.