Health authorities in Karnataka and Telangana continued their efforts to trace people who came in contact with the techie from Hyderabad who tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.
The techie had travelled to Bengaluru from Dubai on February 20. He then worked for a day in Bengaluru and travelled to Secunderabad, around 8 km from Hyderabad, by bus, where he developed a fever and was admitted to a hospital. It was confirmed on March 3 that he tested positive for the disease, prompting health authorities in Karnataka and Telangana to urgently contact everyone he may have come in contact with.
What Karnataka has done
The techie's Bengaluru apartment and workspace were cleaned using disinfectants on Tuesday. The bus on which he travelled to Hyderabad was also cleaned using disinfectants.
"25 of his colleagues were contacted and one was found to be symptomatic. The colleague is admitted in the hospital as a precaution and the sample has been sent for testing," a statement by the Health and Family Welfare Department stated. He was isolated at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases.
Twenty of the 23 passengers who travelled with the techie in the bus were contacted and quarantined at home while the bus driver is in isolation in Hyderabad. The taxi driver who dropped the techie home from the Bengaluru International Airport was also traced and found to be asymptomatic. He too is currently under surveillance.
A letter was issued to the airline company of the flight he flew in to initiatie surveillance activity. The techie's Bengaluru flatmate was also found to be asymptomatic but he was isolated at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases as a precautionary measure.
What Telangana has done
Contact tracing was also done by authorities in Telangana after health authorities urged anyone who may have come in contact with the techie to come forward for testing at the Gandhi Hospital. Health officials stated that 36 of the 88 people he had come in contact with were showing symptoms of COVID-19. All 36 persons were admitted in an isolation ward at the Gandhi Hospital and the results on their samples are awaited.
"It is only in suspected cases where we have taken samples. The results are still awaited. Any of those who came in contact with (him) and have a cold and cough, we are treating them as a suspected case. But every suspect will not be a confirmed case of coronavirus," Dr Vijay Kumar, coronavirus nodal officer told TNM.
Health authorities are yet to divulge details of the techie's workplace and residence as guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO) state that the identity should not be revealed. In spite of this, rumours are spreading on social media about the identity of the techie.
After reports emerged that the flatmate of the techie diagnosed with coronavirus is from Intel, the company in a statement said that it is monitoring the situation closely. “The health and wellbeing of our workers is our top priority. An Intel employee in Bangalore has potentially been exposed and is currently under quarantine in accordance with government requirements. We’re monitoring the coronavirus situation closely and working to ensure that our employees have the information and resources they need to stay safe and informed. In India, we have implemented precautionary measures such as travel and event restrictions, visitor screenings at all our offices, increased frequency of office sanitization, and work-from-home provisions,” an Intel official said.