Two persons from Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa district, who returned from recent overseas trips, were admitted to a government hospital in the temple town of Tirupati on Friday night with symptoms of coronavirus.
Dr N V Ramanaiah, Superintendent of Sri Venkateshwara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital, told reporters on Saturday that one of them had a history of travel to Kuwait, while the other had returned from the Netherlands. They were admitted to an isolation ward, after they arrived at the hospital with severe colds and high temperatures, both considered symptoms of the virus.
“We have collected their blood samples and sent them to Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), which has been equipped with special kits to test the coronavirus,” Ramanaiah said. Up till now, persons displaying symptoms of coronavirus were being referred to hospitals in Hyderabad or Pune.
The preliminary test results, which are expected on Saturday evening, will later be referred to Pune’s National Institute of Virology for further tests and confirmation, the superintendent said.
Meanwhile, another person from Taiwan, who was also admitted to SVR Ruia Hospital four days ago with similar symptoms, tested negative. He was discharged immediately, the hospital authorities said.
In a fresh bulletin issued on Saturday afternoon, the state medical and health department said till date, as many as 378 passengers who returned from coronavirus affected countries have been identified and placed under surveillance. Of them, 153 people are under home isolation and 218 people have completed the 28 days observation period. Only seven passengers are in hospital admission and are stable, the bulletin said.
So far, as many as 27 samples were tested in the last two days of which 20 samples tested negative for the virus. The results are awaited for seven fresh samples, the bulletin said.
The department issued an advisory to the returnees from coronavirus affected countries saying that they should remain under strict home isolation for 28 days from the date of arrival in India, irrespective of whether they have the symptoms or not.
“They are advised not to have close contact with other family members, allow any visitors, go out to public places. If symptoms like cough, fever, and difficulty in breathing are developed, they should immediately put on a mask and contact the nearest government health facility,” the bulletin said.
Special chief secretary of the medical and health department K S Jawahar Reddy said no positive case had been reported in Andhra Pradesh till now. “We have kept a vigil on the people coming from affected countries. Special screening facilities have been provided at all ports and airports,” he said.
In Telangana, the lone coronavirus positive patient – a techie working in Bengaluru, who has been undergoing treatment at an isolation ward at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, is recovering fast.
State health minister Etela Rajender visited the hospital and had a personal interaction with the patient, who had tested positive last week on his return from Dubai. “He is stable and is recovering,” the minister said.
Rajender also went around the hospital and talked to all the other patients. He told them not to panic as there are no coronavirus cases in the state.
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