NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, MARCH 9
Wife of TN’s first coronavirus patient and a 15-year old boy have tested negative for the infection, the state Health and Family Minister C. Viajayabhaskar said here on Monday.
The Minister told reporters “It is good news. Two samples tested for the Covid19 have tested negative’’. One is that of the 15 year old boy who arrived from Texas, United States, and the other of the spouse of coronavirus patient undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH)’’.
In the mean time, the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami convened an urgent review meeting at the secretariat on Monday.
மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் திரு.எடப்பாடி கே.பழனிசாமி அவர்கள் தலைமையில் இன்று (9.3.2020) சென்னை தலைமை செயலகத்தில் தமிழ்நாட்டில் கொரோனா வைரஸ் பரவாமல் தடுப்பதற்காக மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு வரும் முன்னெச்சரிக்கை நடவடிக்கைகள் குறித்த ஆலோசனை கூட்டம் நடைபெற்றது. #TNGovt #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/bxeBRqCS9U
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) March 9, 2020
Dr. Vijayabhaskar said the 45-year-old man, who tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday after his recent visit to Oman and being treated at the RGGGH, was “out of danger now”. “The patient is being taken care well and he is out of danger now and that is more important,” The Minister said.
#Corona Update: Videoconferencing with Senior Health Officials of all TN districts to evaluate the preparedness & precautionary measures to combat #COVIDー19. Despite,no new cases reported, #TNHealth is vigilant & continues monitoring & containment. #vijayabaskar @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/wVLjvfgtvk
— Dr C Vijayabaskar – Say No To Drugs & DMK (@Vijayabaskarofl) March 9, 2020
The man’s wife and the boy were under observation and their samples sent for test have returned negative results. The boy, who had arrived here on Sunday from the US via Doha, was sent to the RGGGH after being diagnosed with fever during screening at the airport. Vijayabhaskar said so far 70 samples had been taken of which 61 were found to be negative, one positive and results were awaited for the remaining eight.
“The eight samples belong to those who travelled with the affected individual and also his family members. We are waiting for the result”, he said.
Chief Minister gave detailed guidelines on prevention
Chairing the review meeting, the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami gave adequate guidelines and advised officials of the Health department to take up effective monitoring in places like ports, railway stations and airports, the Minister said.
He said, “we are taking all preventive measures. There is no necessity to panic. Not everyone needs to wear a mask. Only those who recently underwent bypass surgery or any organ transplant need to wear mask,” he said.
He said steps were being taken to set up testing unit in Theni in southern Tamil Nadu. “…we are also in discussions with the Centre to set up such facilities in Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Madurai. Once it gets confirmed we will share that information”, he said.
Vijayabhaskar clarified there was no spread of the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu and the sole patient was already infected when he arrived. He said state Chief Secretary K Shanmugam issued circular to all district collectors to advise all stakeholders including owners of hotels and malls to step up awareness campaign on the virus.
10 flights from Kuwait and Hong Kong cancelled
Meanwhile, nearly 10 flights to Kuwait and Hong Kong were cancelled on Monday in view of the virus scare, airport officials said. A report from Coimbatore said a 36-year old man, who arrived at the airport from Malaysia, was admitted to the ESI Hospital on Monday after he was found having coronavirus symptoms including fever and cough. Blood and swab samples of the man, hailing from Thrissur in Kerala, had been sent here for test, the sources said.
Aged couple among 17 from TN stranded in cruise ship docked in Egypt
An elderly couple from here is among the 17 passengers from Tamil Nadu stranded in a cruise ship anchored in River Nile in Egypt after 45 people onboard it tested positive for coronovirus, according to their family.
After the ship with 171 tourists docked in the Nile near Luxor City in Egypt, all the passengers were screened and 45, including 12 crew members, have tested positive for Covid-19 and later shifted to a hospital. One passenger from Chennai was taken to a hospital in Alexandria on Saturday, after he developed symptoms, relatives of the Coimbatore couple, aboard the ship, said. Considering the safety, all the other passengers would be quarantined for 14 days, the relatives said quoting information received by them from the couple.
