Man flouts quarantine, attends wedding, match

THIRUVANANTHPURAM/KOLKATA/ HYDERABAD: A 47-year-old man from Kerala’s Kasaragod district flouted home quarantine instructions and attended a wedding, a football match and hosted an event at his home before testing positive for the coronavirus, the state government said on Friday, putting the spotlight on dangers posed by patients evading mandatory safety measures.

The man returned from Dubai on March 11, went through thermal screening at the Kozhikkode International Airport and reported at a hospital in Kasargod.

After taking his swab samples, hospital authorities advised him home quarantine for two weeks. But he attended a football match, threw a function at home and attended a wedding, where he shook hands with one state legislator and hugged another. Both politicians -- Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikunnu and Mancheswaram legislator M A Kamaruddin -- have now quarantined themselves at home.

“The affected person is a social worker of the area and he frequents the Gulf regularly. He invited me to the wedding of one of his relatives on Saturday. There was not a big crowd. I spent about 20 minutes. I wasn’t aware he had returned from Dubai recently. It was a big mistake on his part,” said Nellikunnu.

The district administration has now identified at least 60 of his contacts and asked them to be quarantined at home.

“We want people who have some travel history to heed the advice of health officials and behave responsibly.

We have information that he came in contact with many people and attended functions also. This is a difficult situation.

People will have to realise the gravity of the situation,” said Kasargod collector Sajith Babu.