Mother-child duo, returning from China, test positive for COVID-19 in TN

A woman and her six-year-old daughter, who returned from China via Colombo, tested positive for COVID-19 at the Madurai airport in Tamil Nadu, a senior health official said on Wednesday.

The woman, hailing from Virudhunagar near Madurai, and her daughter were subjected to RT-PCR test at the airport when they landed on Tuesday and the results turned positive for coronavirus, the official said.

Both are under home isolation in Virudhunagar. Their samples would be sent to the state lab for whole genomic sequencing.

On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu had reported 10 positive cases while the number of active cases remained at 51.

The Tamil Nadu government had intensified the screening of all passengers who arrived at the four airports in the state immediately after the sudden surge in coronavirus cases in China and other countries.

On Tuesday, state Health Minister Ma Subramanian, while inspecting a COVID-19 mock drill at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, here had said that the government is fully prepared to tackle the outbreak, if any.