Lone person to test +ve in State has left hospital: Minister

The samples of the person tested negative for the virus in two subsequent tests that were done within a span of 24 hours as per the mandated procedure, said Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar. Following this, he was kept under observation in step down facility at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and was discharged on Monday.

On Monday, the Health Minister and department secretary Beela Rajesh chaired a review meeting with all District Collectors and district level higher officials through video conferencing regarding the preventive steps taken in the State.

The Health department has also initiated screening of the passengers in 16 districts who are travelling to and from neighbouring districts at check posts as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus. The minister urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel to neighbouring districts till March 31.

So far, around 1.80 lakh passengers have been screened at the airports in the State – Chennai, Tiruchy, Madurai and Coimbatore. Of them, 2,221 passengers are kept under home quarantine for 28 days, while 22 others are under hospital isolation.

Till now, 98 samples have been taken from the passengers and sent for testing at King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research in Guindy, National Institute of Virology, Pune, and the laboratories at Theni, Tiruvarur and Tirunelveli district. One more laboratory would soon be started at RGGGH, said Health department officials.

Assuring that the situation was under control, the department said the samples of 96 passengers were processed, of which 95 samples were negative. Even the one sample that initially tested positive for the virus turned negative in the confirmatory tests. Two samples are under process.