As many as 22 patients tested positive for COVID-19 in the central region on Sunday. Of them, 16 are natives of Karur who returned from Maharashtra, while five tested positive in Ariyalur district and one in Nagapattinam.
Of the 16 travellers who had returned to Karur district from Maharashtra, where they had been working, eight had arrived on a Shramik special train. The other eight returned to the district by road, officials here say. The patients include one 45-year-old female and a nine-year-old boy. The patients have all been admitted to the Karur Government Medical College Hospital and are undergoing treatment for the infection.
In Ariyalur district, five patients tested positive for COVID-19. All patients are men who were relatives and contacts of the people who returned to the district after working at the Koyambedu market in Chennai. The patients have been admitted to a COVID Care facility on arrival and have now been shifted to the Ariyalur District Headquarters Hospital. As on Sunday, the total number of positive cases in the district is 353. Of them, 329 have recovered and have been discharged.
Among the active cases, 19 are undergoing treatment at the Ariyalur GH while three are at the Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Government Memorial Hospital, and two are admitted to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
A total of 128 containment villages have been identified and have been cordoned off. Meanwhile, on Sunday, 13 new samples were lifted from villagers and have been sent to the Tiruchi Medical College Hospital for testing.
The sole patient who tested positive in Nagapattinam is a 41-year-old man. The patient is undergoing treatment at the Nagapattinam District Headquarters Hospital while his contacts are being traced by health officials.
Meanwhile, a total of 187 passengers, of whom 120 worked in Perambalur and 67 in Ariyalur district have been sent by the respective district administrations to the Tiruchi Junction Railway station to board a special Shramik train to Uttar Pradesh.
The workers in Ariyalur had been working at a cement factory while the workers in Perambalur had been employed at various private firms.