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At least 88 came in close contact with coronavirus-affected Telangana man
After spending five days in Dubai, the techie landed in Bengaluru on February 20.
The software engineer from Hyderabad India’s fifth acknowledged case of Covid-19 , who works for a multinational in Bengaluru, went to Dubai on February 15 on an official assignment, where he reportedly worked together with other techies from Hong Kong.
After spending five days in Dubai, the techie landed in Bengaluru on February 20. He was already suffering from cold and fever but the screening at the airport did not identify him as someone who may have been infected with the virus. To date, Karnataka has screened around 40,000 passengers who have passed through Kempegowda International airport in Bangalore starting January 20 according to the state Health and Family welfare minister B Sriramulu.
After returing to Bangalore, the techie is said to have attended office for a day. About 24 of his colleagues who interacted with him during this period have subsequently been quarantined and are being screened . The software engineer who stays at a apartment complex on Sarjapur road left for Hyderabad on the night of February 21, by a private bus and arrived in the city on February 22 . The Bangalore urban district health and family welfare office visited the apartment complex on March 3 and the flatmate of the engineer, working with US multinational company, Intel, has been quarantined as have inmates of the nearby flats.
Telangana health minister Etela Rajender said that soon after coming to Hyderabad, the techie went to Apollo Hospitals, Secunderabad, for treatment as an outpatient. The treatment continued till February 27.
When there was no respite from the symptoms, he was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on suspicion of Swine Flu on February 27 and was treated as an inpatient in an exclusive ward for three days. He tested negative for Swine Flu, but the symptoms persisted.
Suspecting that he might have contracted SARS-Cov-2, doctors at Apollo Hospitals referred him to Gandhi Hospitals on March 1, where he was quarantined immediately. Doctors who conducted tests on him detected a presence of the virus. His blood samples were sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune, which confirmed this on March 2. He has been undergoing treatment at the exclusive Coronavirus ward. “His condition is stable,” Gandhi hospital superintendent Dr Sravan said.
Following the official announcement , authorities of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation sanitised the entire Mahendra Hills Colony in Secunderabad, where the techie’s residence is located. .
A team of doctors from Gandhi Hospitals went to his residence on Monday night, spoke to his family members to collect the details as to whom he had met in the last 10 days. They also collected the blood samples of family members for testing.
The health minister said the department had identified, in all, around 80 people who came in close contact with the techie in the last 10 days. Of them, 27 are passengers who travelled with him in the bus from Bangalore to Hyderabad, and 20 are medical staff at Apollo hospitals, Secunderabad, where he underwent treatment for fever. This also includes members of his extended family.
All 80 members have been advised to get admitted in the isolation ward of Gandhi Hospitals and undergo all tests as a precautionary measure, the minister said.
