Man Quarantined in Surat Hospital for Suspected Novel Coronavirus Infection Slips Away

Surat: A 41-year-old man quarantined on Tuesday for suspected novel coronavirus infection walked out of the civil hospital here in Gujarat without giving his blood samples for testing, a senior official said on Wednesday.

However, after the hospital authorities informed district administration and the police about the incident, the man's family members on Wednesday said he would return to the hospital to give his blood samples.

A senior hospital official said that the 41-year-old walked out of the facility without informing anybody, as he was "scared", apparently of contracting the infection. The man had returned from China on January 19.

Meanwhile, samples of three of the total five cases of suspected nCoV infection in Gujarat have tested negative while result of two others is awaited.

All these persons had returned from China--the country from where the nCoV infection originated--in the recent past. "A man was admitted in the isolation ward of the hospital for suspected nCoV on Tuesday afternoon. However, before we could collect his blood samples, he slipped away. We have informed the district collector and the police," said Priti Kapadia, in-charge medical superintendent of the hospital.

She said a family member of the man met with the hospital authorities on Wednesday and assured them that he would get himself admitted to the hospital again for giving his blood sample.

"If he cooperates and provides his blood samples, we shall be able to prevent the spread of the virus in case his samples test positive," Kapadia said.

Hospital Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Ketan Naik said the man walked out of the hospital without informing anybody despite counselling on Tuesday.

A Health department official said they are following up with 622 of the total 769 passengers who had returned from China in the recent past.

In Ahmedabad, we have followed up with 195 people, followed by Mehsana (70), Banaskantha (62), and Rajkot (47), he said.

"Civil hospitals in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot have the isolation wards to deal with emergency cases," the official added.