The Health Department collected swab samples of around 40 police personnel and a few medical professionals of a primary health centre (PHC) in Coimbatore on Tuesday after a 61-year-old social worker, who interacted with them, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

The swab samples of around 40 police personnel attached to the Thudiyalur police station and a PHC in the same location were collected on Tuesday, said Health Department sources.

The man, a resident of Kothari Nagar, had flown from Delhi to Coimbatore on March 23 and a few persons from Coimbatore who attended a religious conference at Nizamuddin, one of the largest source of COVID-19 spread in the country, were his co-passengers.

The man was engaged in the distribution of food to the needy in Thudiyalur area, allegedly after he tested negative for COVID-19 twice. It was also alleged that he distributed food to police personnel.

An official from Thudiyalur police station said the man served food packets to migrant workers in the area and not to the police. However, the officer said that a few policemen took a selfie with the social worker, who also visited the station.

Collector K. Rajamani said it was being verified whether he also visited the Coimbatore Collectorate.

The Health Department was yet to identify migrant workers who received food packets from the social worker.

An official from the Health Department said on conditions of anonymity that swab sample from the social worker was subjected to COVID-19 test only once and the result returned positive on Monday. This means that the man was engaged in food distribution without remaining in home quarantine for 28 days starting March 23, the day he returned from Delhi.