An Irishman who is suspected to have a case of the deadly coronavirus has fled isolation in an Indian hospital.
The Irish national is suspected to have contracted the killer Covid-19 bug and was sent to an isolation ward at the government hospital in Odisha’s Cuttack city on Thursday.
It is understood that the man had been screened at Biju Patnaik International airport in Bhubaneswar on Thursday and was taken straight to hospital for tests.
The man was then put into the isolation ward of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack along with another person who was travelling with him.
However, late on Thursday night the Irish man and the person he was with escaped isolation.
A department of Health official told the Hindustantimes: "It’s not yet clear how both of them escaped. Once someone is suspected to be infected with coronavirus, he/she has to be kept in isolation. It’s compulsory.
"We are trying to find out the exact timeline of how it happened. We have lodged a case with Mangalabag police station."
The number of coronavirus cases in India has increased from six to 31 this week, as the epidemic that originated in China has infected nearly 95,000 people worldwide.
In Ireland, seven new cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases here to 13.
