Villupuram health officials discharge 26 people, later four test COVID-19 positive; one still missing

VILLUPURAM: Health officials in Villupuram are in a soup, four of the 26 patients they discharged on Tuesday have now tested positive for COVID-19. While three of them have been brought back for treatment, the police and officials are unable to locate one person. 

Officials say that 46 people were shifted to the Health Manpower Development Institute in Villupuram after they tested negative. However, it later turned out that four persons had tested positive. Immediately, three of them were brought back to the hospital. Only a 30-year-old man from Delhi, who had come to Puducherry in December to attend a job interview, is missing. Incidentally, the missing man was arrested a few months back over an accident, in which he allegedly endangered the lives of three persons. 

He was released on March 16, and sources say he was spending time with truck drivers in Villupuram, hoping to hitch a ride back to Delhi with them. His efforts did not bear fruit as the lockdown paralysed truck movement in the region. He reportedly stayed with a few truck drivers in the meantime. It was the police who admitted the man at Villupuram GH, as he had symptoms of the viral infection. 

"He was discharged on Tuesday because of some confusion among the health workers," the police said. Three police teams have been formed now to find the man. Cops in the neighbouring districts of Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, and Vellore and Puducherry have been alerted.  

Villupuram Health department officials were not available for comments, despite repeated phone calls. They initially told reporters that the person escaped from hospital, but later police clarified that he had been mistakenly discharged. State health officials also evaded questions about negligence in discharging the patients. Meanwhile, police identified the truck drivers who the man was in contact with, and have placed them in isolation. 

In their attempt to locate the man, Villupuram police had shared some details about the man, including his photo, to the public. A senior police official said this was to alert the public as the man may be roaming around unaware that he was infected. However, Puducherry police released much more information about the man including his Delhi address. They defended this move on grounds that the public would know to stay away from him and would alert the police if they saw him. His photo and personal details are now being widely shared on social media, causing human rights activists to fear the man might be attacked.