Thiruvananthapuram: Three of a family who had returned to Kerala from Italy on February 29 and two of the relatives they had visited once they were back have tested positive for COVID-19. Just when it was thought Kerala had successfully managed to contain and stem its spread, the virus has made a shocking return.
The infection was confirmed only on Saturday night. The five are currently at the isolation ward of the Pathanamthitta General Hospital.
The Health Department has put out a notice saying all passengers who had travelled on the QR 126 Venice-Doha flight on February 28 and QR 514 Doha-Kochi flight on February 29 should immediately contact the control room in their districts. This is part of efforts to trace individuals who could have probably come into contact with the Italian returnees.
The family was taken to Pathanamthitta by a relative. As a precautionary measure, the relative who picked the family from the airport were shifted to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Sunday along with his wife and daughter. The family hails from Chengalam in Kottayam district.
The government is still tracing the driver of the car on the basis of the CCTV visuals obtained from the airport.
Health officials are also on the look out for other people both the Italian returnees and their relative's family had visited or come into contact with between February 29 and March 8. The department wants to complete the 'contact tracing' process by Sunday evening itself.
The appearance of the five new cases, all in Pathanamthitta district, were announced by health minister K K Shailaja at a press conference in Thiruvannathapuram on Sunday. The minister had strong words for the Italy returnees – father, mother and son - for not reporting at the airport. She said the family had behaved in the most irresponsible manner.
“Not only did they go home without reporting at the airport but also made a visit to the house of a relative,” the minister said. Two members of this relative's family then reported ill at the Ranni taluk hospital. “Some Corona-like symptoms were found in them. Only then, on detailed questioning, was the presence of the family that had just returned from Italy was revealed,” the minister said. Italy is the epicentre of Europe's coronavirus outbreak.
The Health Department's medical team made an emergency visit to the house of the Italian returnees. “They too had symptoms, all had mild fever,” the minister said. The medical team had to eventually use force to shift the three to isolation in a government facility.
“When they were asked to immediately shift to the hospital, they objected. They said they had no health problems and refused to move to the isolation ward,” Shailaja said. “We had to use some force to shift them out. They were put under observation and isolation, and their samples, along with that of their two relatives, were sent for testing,” the minister said. All the serum samples were shown as positive and the results were conveyed to the Health Department on the night of February 7 (Saturday).
The health minister said such negligent behaviour on the part of those returning from high-risk countries like China, South Korea, Iran and Italy was causing huge problems.
“We have consistently told that those returning from foreign countries should voluntarily inform the medical team at the airport. We have made all arrangements in the airports. Over 10,000 people reach our airports daily. So they are duty-bound to voluntary inform about their whereabouts. Now, if they have failed to report at the airport, they should at least, even if they don't feel sick, call up the nearby medical officer once they reach home,” the minister said.
“In this case, the family first hid the fact that they had returned from Italy and then, when they were asked to shift to the hospital, they refused,” the minister said.
Shailaja said the situation was so dire that the state government would have to consider such irresponsible behaviour as a criminal act. She once again appealed to those who had arrived from Italy, China, Iran and South Korea to urgently report to their nearest medical officer. “We know there are many who had returned recently from these countries,” Shailaja said.
Kerala had reported the first three Covid-19 cases in the country but a quick and effective response was seen to have kept the virus at bay. All the three cases, medical students from China's Wuhan, were declared virus-free and discharged within a month.
With the latest reported case from Kerala, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India have reached 39. Globally, 95 countries and territories have reported the disease and over 3,500 deaths have been accounted for so far.
