25 of 67 patients directly or indirectly linked to Thai nationals

Clustering of cases catches Health Department off guard

31/03/2020, SERENA JOSEPHINE M. ,CHENNAI

Twenty-five of the 67 persons who have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tamil Nadu are either directly or indirectly linked to two Thai nationals who had tested positive on March 21.

This clustering of cases has come as a surprise to the State’s Health Department, which had brought all those who had arrived from China, the U.S., the Middle East and Europe under surveillance.

The two Thai nationals, identified as patients 5 and 6, are undergoing treatment at IRT, Perundurai. They were part of a large group of people from countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and Congo, who had visited the State for an annual pilgrimage, officials said.

A 54-year-old man, who had tested positive and died at the Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, had received the Thai nationals. Patient no. 26 — a 63-year-old man — was their co-traveller, while two others, including a 42-year-old man and a 46-year-old, were among their contacts.

Three family members of the deceased have also tested positive for COVID-19. A 29-year-old doctor, who tested positive on Sunday, was declared a contact of the 26th patient. Her 10-month-old baby, mother and maid also reportedly tested positive.

On the same day, four persons from Erode with a travel history to Delhi tested positive. On Monday, 10 men, all from Erode and with a travel history to Delhi, tested positive. They had come into contact with the two Thai nationals.

“This was an unexpected turn of the trajectory. We had successfully brought persons who had travelled from China, the Middle East, the U.S. and Europe under surveillance. There was no spill-over. Nevertheless, these persons were on their annual pilgrimage and we have traced the places they had visited, and where persons have tested positive,” an official said.

“Of the 165 persons who had arrived here, 76 have returned to their country. Apart from them, the department has been tracing around 1,500 persons who had travelled from various parts of Tamil Nadu to Nizamuddin, Delhi, to attend a conference. They have tracked and quarantined 819 persons, who had returned to the State. Those with symptoms were moved to isolation facilities and asymptomatic persons are in quarantine centres, while their family members are under home quarantine,” the official added.

“Those who had come here from abroad had visited areas in districts such as Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Salem, Erode, Madurai, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, Sivaganga and Kancheepuram. We have taken up massive containment measures in a five-km radius in the identified areas, and it is a challenge to [exercise] control before the lockdown comes to an end,” he said.

Active cooperation

All those who had been identified and quarantined were cooperating with the department. “In fact, they are actively cooperating in tracing their contacts,” he said.

According to sources, this clustering of cases from the confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to the two Thai nationals was totally unexpected. “What we are seeing is clustering among contacts, and not community transmission. In many other cases, it is the family contacts of COVID-19 patients who have tested positive. The chances are high that such transmission could happen among family members,” a source said.

While officials are tracking those who had attended the conference in Delhi, the District Collectors have also been alerted to trace them. Some of them have been traced to Erode, Coimbatore and Tiruppur.