Hyderabad, March 13 Health authorities in Telangana on Friday identified and placed 34 persons under home quarantine. These people had come in contact with a man from Karnataka who died of coronavirus on Tuesday.
A day after it was confirmed that Mohammad Hussein Siddiqui(76), a resident of Kalaburgi in Karnataka died of COVID-19, the health department of Telangana said it identified the people who came in contact with the man while he underwent treatment at two private hospitals.
All the 34 are medical personnel including doctors, paramedical staff and ambulance staff.
Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao said they were kept under strict isolation. He said their condition was stable and they will remain under observation. Officials were trying to find out if some more people had come in contact with the deceased person.
Siddiqui, who had returned from Saudi Arabia late last month, became the first man in India to die of COVID-19.
He is reported to have approached three private hospitals in Hyderabad. While one hospital refused to treat him, he was treated by two others. Doctors had screened him for coronavirus but before the test results could come, his relatives took him back to Kalaburgi on Tuesday. He died on the way.
Meanwhile, Telangana health department in a bulletin said 143 persons are suspected to have symptoms of COVID-19. While 26 of them are in hospital isolation, the remaining are under home quarantine.
Officials said test results of 23 persons were awaited. The state reported first positive case on March 2. The techie, who had returned from Dubai, is likely to be discharged from the hospital in a day or two.
( With inputs from IANS )