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Italy-returned youth is Andhra Pradesh’s first suspected coronavirus case
A youth, who had returned from Italy two weeks ago, was admitted to Nellore government hospital four days back with symptoms of cold, fever and sore throat.
A suspected coronavirus positive case has been reported from Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, though the final test results are awaited, officials said on Wednesday.
A youth, who had returned from Italy two weeks ago, was admitted to Nellore government hospital four days back with symptoms of cold, fever and sore throat.
“Initial tests at Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, indicated that he had symptoms of coronavirus. Fresh samples have been sent to National Institute of Virology for further tests. Pending the test results, he has been quarantined in the isolation ward of the Nellore hospital and is being observed,” said Dr S Rajya Lakshmi, Nellore district medical and health officer (DMHO).
The medical and health department authorities have refused to divulge other details of the patient, including his travel history. Enquiries revealed that the victim had returned from Italy to Delhi first and from there to Chennai and from there to Nellore by road.
The doctors also conducted tests on his family members for coronavirus. His residential colony at Chinna Bazar was also sanitised as a precautionary measure.
In a statement, K S Jawahar Reddy, state medical and health special chief secretary, said that as many as 75 patients had entered Andhra Pradesh in four phases since February 29. He said all of them had been asked to be self-quarantined at their respective homes for 14 days, strictly following the instructions of the department regularly.
“They should remain in their rooms and should not meet anybody, including family members, friends and relatives during this 14-day period and nobody should enter their rooms. If they showed any symptoms of coronavirus, they should immediately get admitted to the nearly government hospital,” he suggested.
According to an official bulletin issued on Wednesday, as many as 661 persons from Andhra Pradesh had the travel history of the affected countries till date. Of them, 499 persons had been kept under observation and among them, 230 persons had crossed the observation period of 28 days.
Of the remaining 269 persons still under observation, only 13 persons were admitted to hospital and the remaining are under home observation. “As of now, as many as 45 samples were tested and 36 samples were proved negative. The test results of remaining nine are pending,” the bulletin said.
In Telangana, the only one positive case of coronavirus – that of a 24-year-old techie working in Bengaluru with travel history to Dubai – has now been proved negative in the first test conducted on Tuesday.
“The sample has been sent to Pune for confirmation. If the tests at NIV too confirms it negative, it will be a big relief to Telangana. There are no other cases of coronavirus in the state,” health minister Etela Rajender said.
