CHENNAI: An inmate of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Kilpauk, Chennai succumbed to COVID-19 at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on Thursday. At least 26 inmates of the institute have tested positive for the virus. 
 
According to the media bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health on Friday, the IMH inmate, a 72-year-old man from Chennai with intellectual disability and seizure disorder was admitted to RGGGH on July 3. His sample was taken on July 2 at IMH. The patient died on July 16. The causes of death listed include viral pneumonia and COVID pneumonia respiratory failure.
 
Confirming that the deceased had been an inmate of the institute, a senior doctor at IMH said that but for the one victim, all the others had recovered from COVID and were being kept under observation at a ward at the Institute. 
 
The institute has also started testing its inmates for Covid as ordered by the Madras High Court. "We started the process on Friday. We are yet to complete it. We will have to wait for the results," the senior doctor said.
 
On Thursday, the court had told the State government to test all 800 inmates of the IMH for Covid-19 within a week. The institute’s staff are also to be tested. The court also issued directions in providing exclusive care and treatment to each of the inmates if they tested positive. The directions came on a plea filed by the Tamil Nadu Association for Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC).