Jaipur:
An 85-year-old Jaipur-based man, who had returned from Dubai on February 28, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday.
He was found presumptive positive in the first test on Tuesday and hence, a second test was conducted with fresh samples, the reports of which arrived late Tuesday night, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh, said.
“The man who travelled to Dubai has tested positive for coronavirus. It has been confirmed now,” Singh said.
“We have also got the manifest of the Spicejet flight he took from Dubai to Jaipur and are doing due diligence on that,” he said.
The official said all passengers of the flight would be screened.
“All passengers who had come to Jaipur from Dubai in the Spicejet flight have been asked to contact their nearest hospital immediately. All the people who have come in contact with the passengers will also be screened,” Singh said.
He said directions have been issued to officials to conduct screening of passengers and their contacts, and to keep those exhibiting symptoms in isolation, if required.
“The man came to the hospital on Monday with symptoms of the virus. After the first test, his wife (78) and son (50) too have been kept in isolation at the hospital. The two, however, did not have symptoms when they were admitted,” Singh said.
Before reaching the SMS hospital here at 3 am on March 9, he had visited three private hospitals.
Screening of people living in a three-km radius of the 85-year-old man’s house is also being done by teams of the Health Department, officials said.
Meanwhile, looking at the situation, the state government has started the facility of sample testing for coronavirus at a medical college in Jodhpur.
Testing was so far being conducted at the SMS medical college here.
Directions have also been issued to military, railway and all major private hospitals to make arrangement for isolation facilities, the officials said.
So far, 1.77 lakh people have been screened in the state for COVID-19 and 335 samples collected.
Of these, three were found positive, which includes an Italian couple. Testing of four samples is in process, Singh said.
The Italian couple is also undergoing treatment at the SMS hospital and their condition is improving, the official said.
Singh also held a meeting to review the current situation in the state.
Medical Education Secretary Vaibhav Galaria, National Health Mission Director Naresh Thakral and other officers attended it.
