District Collector D. Balamurali has ordered an investigation into the incident in which the body of a man who died in Chennai had been brought here without conducting COVID-19 tests.
The Collector has sought a clarification about how the ambulance that carried the body was allowed to cross the Walayar checkpost.
The confirmation of COVID-19 for the widow of the deceased has sent panic waves among health workers and the family. The cemetery where the body was cremated has been closed.
The 52-year-old man died in Chennai on May 22. The body was brought to Vattakkat on the same night in an ambulance. His widow and son accompanied the body in the ambulance.
The body was taken to the cemetery straight as the doctor at Elavanchery health centre asked them not to take the body to their house. The widow visited their relatives at Vadakkanchery. Later, she tested positive for COVID-19.
Sixteen persons who were there at the cemetery, including their relatives, health workers, police personnel, and the ambulance driver were asked to go into quarantine.
The District Medical Officer will investigate the incident and submit a report to the Collector.
