TN man who went to Oman has virus

Tamil Nadu reported the first confirmed case of the novel Covid-19

(Covid-19) on Saturday. The 45-year-old infected male from Kancheepuram district has a travel history to Muscat, Oman.

The patient whose identify has not been revealed, has become asymptomatic, and has been admitted to the isolation ward at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here.

“#COVID19 positive for

45Y male who travelled from Oman. Due to d stringent screening process, we identified & isolated the Pt for further treatment @ RGGH Chennai. Pt is stable & under hospital observation, #TNHealth is fully functional to combat d situation. Pls avoid state of panic,” State Health Minister Dr. C. Vijayabaskar tweeted on Saturday evening.

India had reported the first confirmed case of

Covid-19 on January 30 after the infected person with a travel history from Wuhan - the epicenter of the outbreak in China — returned to Kerala.

With Saturday’s confirmation, the total number of positive cases of

COVID-19 in the country has risen to 34. The man was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on March 5 with complaints of fever and cough. He is currently undergoing treatment in the isolation ward at the hospital and is said to be stable. He had travelled to Oman from Chennai in February. His family has been placed under home isolation. Efforts are on to isolate anyone whom the patient might have come into contact with.

About 56 samples obtained from passengers arriving to the State were sent for testing at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine,

Guindy Chennai, (52 samples), and National Institute of Virology, Pune (4) and all but one tested negative.

“So far, more than one lakh persons have been screened at the airport and 1,243 people are being monitored for 28 days,” Dr. Vijayabaskar had said here on Friday.

24 hours control room: The State Health and Family Welfare Department has already set up a 24hours ‘Covid-19’ control room on phone numbers for any help\ clarification\ queries related to COVID-19: 04429510400, 29510500,

9444340496 and

8754448477.