As many as 14 out of the 38 persons form Belathuru village in Chamarajanagar district, who had been quarantined in the wake of a visit by a police head constable from Bengaluru, were sent home after they tested negative for COVID-19.
The district administration had quarantined a total of 38 persons after receiving information that the head constable, who was visiting his relatives, had tested positive.
The results of 14 samples have been received and all of them are negative, said an official. results of the other samples are awaited.
Though the head constable had tested negative during a retest and his testing “positive” earlier was attributed to confusion during swab collection and sample testing stage, the health officials in Chamarajanagar were not willing to take any chances.
The administration had collected the samples of all the 38 quarantined persons and sent them to COVID-19 tests. The 14 persons, who tested negative in the results arriving on Thursday have already been sent home, but asked to remain home quarantined for 14 days.
Chamarajanagar District Health Officer (DHO) Ravi said they were also awaiting the results of the head constable’s samples from National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for a confirmation of the retests.
The border district of Chamarajanagar, which has been classified as a green zone and enjoying the distinction of remaining free from COVID-19 cases, had been carrying out rigorous screening at its checkposts bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala, besides other districts including Mysuru, Mandya and Ramanagaram in the State.