An Idukki based Congress leader who had contracted the novel coronavirus without a history of foreign travel has now tested negative for the virus. The Cheruthoni based political leader’s second sample returned negative for the virus on Monday.
“He will be declared recovered and discharged from the isolation ward in Idukki if one more of his sample returns negative for SARS-COV2, which causes COVID-19 disease,” Dr PK Sushma, Deputy District Medical Officer (Dy DMO) of Idukki, told TNM.
The Congress leader who tested positive on Thursday, March 26, had neither travelled outside the state or country after the outbreak of the pandemic or had known primary contact with an infected person. On March 13, he had a fever, and visited Thodupuzha and then the district hospital on the following day. However, since he had no history of foreign travel, the doctors did not test him for coronavirus as they assumed it was an ordinary fever. However, 10 days later, when the fever persisted, the politician’s throat swab sample was taken and he tested positive and was isolated for three days. On Monday, March 30, his second sample tested negative.
Explaining how the patient had recovered from the virus so quickly, Dr Sushma said that “it was not surprising as the patient had been detected very late and had almost recovered from the virus when he was tested”.
“He has been exhibiting symptoms for 10 days and was nearing recovery by the time we tested and isolated him. On Saturday, he had a slight cough but no other symptoms. By Sunday, he was asymptomatic and even tested negative for the virus,” she added.
The main concern, however, is whether the patient had spread the virus to the people he had met during his travels. His family, including wife and children have tested negative for the virus.
Close contact of Idukki politician tests positive
On Sunday, one primary contact of the politician tested positive for the virus. The individual, who is in his 50s, was working near the Congress party office in Cheruthoni and is a ‘close contact’ of the politician, according to Idukki District Medical Officer (DMO), H Dineshan.
“We have only tested a few people out of the primary contacts of the politician. Out of this, one person has tested positive. We will have to test more of his contacts to find out the extent of his spread,” Dr Sushma added.
While how the Congress leader contracted the virus still remains a mystery, officials from the District Medical Office say that it is likely that the leader had met a foreign national or a foreign returnee during his travels.
Being a politician, he had also met top political leaders including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and bureaucrats in Thiruvananthapuram prior to being tested for the virus.