COIMBATORE: Creating a flutter, 13 guest workers of a cotton mill at Vellakoil in Tirupur district had gone missing from where they were undergoing quarantine after being tested positive for Covid-19, two days before the completion of their isolation period.
The mill management told health officials that the 13 had left for their native places in Jharkhand, without informing them. Now the health authorities have alerted the state health officials to pass on the information to the health department in Jharkhand about the arrival of the 13.
According to health officials in Tirupur, the 13 men had undergone Covid-19 testing on April 6. The results, which came on April 9, found they were positive for the virus. They were hospitalized for a week and then asked to be in home isolation till April 20, to complete the 14-day isolation period. Since then, they were at the staff quarters of the mill at Vellakoil, where they were working. The staff quarters was also declared a containment zone till April 22. However, they were missing from the staff quarters on Monday.
When the local health authorities got wind of their absence, they questioned the mill staff, who said the 13 had left without informing them. Subsequently, health authorities found out that they had left for their native places in Jharkhand on Sunday night, along with a bunch of guest workers, who left Tirupur.
Health officials, however, say the chances of infection spreading from the 13 was remote, as they have completed 13 days of quarantine. “99% there is no chance of spreading,”’ said a health officer. However, as a precautionary measure, they have alerted the state health department to inform Jharkhand authorities so that their co-passengers in the train could be isolated and tested once they land there.
Health officials have tightened vigil on the mills and garment units and have instructed the managements to keep a close watch on workers.