Italian tourist tests positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan, placed under isolation; blood sample sent to Pune for confirmation, says health minister

Jaipur: An Italian tourist tested positive for the coronavirus in Jaipur on Monday and his blood samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for further confirmation, the state government said. The 69-year-old man has been placed under isolation at the government-run Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. The man is part of the group of 20 tourists, who are now in Agra. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot summoned a meeting of top officials on Monday night to discuss the development. Two separate blood tests on him at the SMS Hospital had come up with contradictory findings. The first sample collected from him on Saturday tested negative but the man’s condition deteriorated, Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma told the state Assembly.  A second sample was then taken and its report received on Monday indicated that he had the virus. [caption id=“attachment_8109981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Coronavirus isolation ward. Representational image. PTI[/caption] “Since there is a variation in the test reports, samples have been sent to NIV-Pune for testing," he told reporters. The minister said the Italian embassy in New Delhi has been informed. “Other tourists in his group have moved to Agra from Jaipur and authorities there have been informed about it,” he said. Directions have been issued to screen them as well, Sharma said. The minister said that the patient was admitted to the Emergency ICU at the SMS Hospital and later shifted to an isolation ward. The doctors and the nursing staff at the ICU will now be screened for the virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Others in touch with the man will also be screened, authorities said. “All measures are being taken and the hospital administration is on alert. There is no need for panic,” Sharma said. This is the first time that a suspected coronavirus victim has tested positive in the state. Before this, all 102 samples collected in the state had tested negative for the virus. At Jaipur international airport, over 23,000 passengers from 161 flights have been screened so far, according to an official. Hospital sources said the man arrived in Jaipur from Udaipur with the group of tourists and checked into a hotel on 28 February. He suffered from breathlessness and was coughing. He was then taken to a private hospital and kept overnight there, they said. The next day, he was shifted to SMS Hospital where he was kept in an isolation ward. Test results received late on Sunday night were negative so he was shifted to the ICU for observation, they said. Since his condition kept on deteriorating, a second test was conducted on Monday. When the report came out positive for the virus, he was shifted to the ICU of the isolation ward, hospital sources said. The issue was raised in the Assembly on Monday by Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore. The health minister assured the House that there was nothing to fear and the government is sensitive to the issue.