Tamil Nadu reports first case of coronavirus, patient hospitalised in Chennai

This brings the total number of positive cases of coronavirus disease to 34 in the country.

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Tamil Nadu has reported its first positive case of coronavirus. A 45-year-old man who had returned to India from Muscat, Oman was found to be positive for the virus on Saturday.

The man had been admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on March 5 with complaints of fever and cough. He had traveled to Chennai from Oman at the end of February. Officials admitted him to the isolation ward at the hospital, where his samples were taken and sent to National Insitute of Virology in Pune for testing.

“The reports returned today (Saturday) and showed that he was positive. His family has been placed under home isolation. He continues to undergo treatment in the isolation ward at the hospital and is currently stable,” Director of Public Pealth (DPH) Dr K Kolandasamy told TNM.

On Friday that state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar had said that there are no positive cases of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu. 54 samples have been tested negative so far and 1,243 people were being monitored.

He said d that the set-up to screen passengers at the airport had been strengthened and assured that the government was continuously monitoring the situation across the state. Over 8,000 passengers arrive from 50-plus flights every day in Chennai and ideally, they should have all been examined at the airport and screened for the virus.

"So far 1,00,111 people have been screened at the airport and 1,243 people are being monitored and this will be for 28 days; and 54 samples have tested negative," the Minister told the media in Chennai.

In addition to the man from Tamil Nadu another two positive cases have been reported from Ladakh in 2 men who had recently returned from Iran. Officials have stated that the two have been admitted to isolation in a Delhi hospital, and are currently stable.

This brings the total number of cases in India to 34: 16 tourists and a tour guide, 5 in Delhi, 1 in Telangana, 1 in Tamil Nadu, 6 in Agra and 3 from Kerala who have made full recovery.