Officials in Karnataka’s Mangaluru city have launched a search for a man who went missing from the isolation ward of a hospital where he was admitted after showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus upon his arrival from Dubai on Sunday, PTI reported on Monday.
The man, who had high fever and other symptoms of COVID-19, was shifted to the Wenlock District Hospital in Mangaluru on Sunday night. He reportedly argued with the hospital staff that he was not infected with the virus and left saying that he would go to a private hospital for treatment. The Hindu, however, reported that an ambulance was sent to bring him to the isolation ward of the hospital for tests related to coronavirus but he left before the staff could come.
Sikandar Pasha, health officer of Dakshina Kannada district, had earlier said that the patient would be kept under observation for 24 hours and would be discharged after routine tests. After the incident, he said that two teams of doctors and nurses would screen international passengers arriving at the Mangaluru airport, in addition to the medical team already working at the airport, according to The Hindu.
The hospital’s health officer informed the police about the patient’s escape after which a high alert was issued for several districts in the state. A surveillance team is at his home with the police and an official said that he would be brought back and admitted to the hospital, according to NDTV.
Samples of six international passengers arriving in Mangaluru were sent for tests. All of them tested negative for coronavirus, The Hindu reported, quoting health officials.
Four new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in India on Monday, taking the total number of infections to 43. The Union Health Ministry said one new case each has been reported from Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Karnataka government has announced that kindergarten classes in Bengaluru will remain closed because of the confirmed cases in neighbouring Kerala, PTI reported.
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