Tamil Nadu reported its seventh case of COVID-19 on Sunday after a 26-year-old woman who had returned from Spain tested positive for the coronavirus. She is currently in isolation at the government hospital in Coimbatore.
The Minister for Family Welfare and Health Dr C. Vijayabaskar tweeted that the patient is currently under isolation and her condition is stable.
According to reports from the health department, the woman had travelled to Spain and landed in Bengaluru on March 17. Later, she took a train to reach Coimbatore. She was asymptomatic when she was screened for COVID-19 at the Bengaluru airport. Later, her colleague in Spain informed her that as she had tested positive for the virus. The woman immediately rushed to the Coimbatore government hospital, informing doctors about her travel history and her colleague who had tested positive. The doctors then shifted the woman to the isolation ward at the hospital. The patient, however, requested the hospital administration to shift her to the ESI hospital in Coimbatore.
While the patient showed no symptoms of COVID-19, the ESI hospital report indicates that she had a temperature for the past nine days. Health department officials, after confirming the result for the woman came back positive for COVID-19, revealed that she had travelled by train from Bengaluru and hired a cab from Coimbatore railway station to her residence.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has declared a complete lockdown and imposed section 144 till 5 am on March 23. It has also capped the prices of face masks and sanitizers, adding it to essential commodities. A gazette notification has also been published by the state government and the price-capping was announced by the ministry of consumer affairs.
The announcement comes two days after the members of the Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association had a meeting with the Health Minister Dr Vijayabaskar. As per the notification, a 3-ply mask will be sold at a price of Rs 10 and a 2-ply mask at the rate of Rs 8. A 200 ml bottle sanitizer will be sold at Rs 100 and these rates will be applicable till June 30.