Two more persons who returned to Kottayam from Abu Dhabi and Bengaluru tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 here on Saturday, taking the number of patients in the district to nine. Those who tested positive were a 47-year-old man from Karukachal who landed from Abu Dhabi on May 18 and a 23-year-old woman from Meenadam who returned from Bengaluru on the same day. Both were shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) here in the evening.
A two-year-old boy and his 29-year-old mother, who were being treated at the isolation ward in the MCH, were discharged after testing negative twice in succession. They will now remain in home quarantine.
People from other States continue to return to Kottayam. Till Saturday, the authorities here issued 5,115 passes for inter-State entry. The district administration officials and the Health Department had a tough time coordinating the procedures for the unscheduled arrival of passengers from Mumbai on board a special train on Saturday night. The authorities received information only on Saturday afternoon about the train planning a stopover at Kottayam. The train reportedly did not have the authorisation of the State government.
200 passengers
“Around 200 passengers, including people from Idukki and Alappuzha, are expected to get off at the station here. It was a race against time for us to arrange for the medical screening and other procedures at the station,” said a district administration official. The train from Mumbai will be followed by another from Bengaluru, which is slated to reach Kottayam by 8.30 a.m. on Sunday.
