Authorities in the south Indian state of Kerala have confirmed to SBS Malayalam that a woman who returned from Australia recently was one of the newest confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state.
“The 65-year-old woman, along with her husband, landed in New Delhi on 21st of March,” PK Sudheer Babu, the District Collector of Kottayam district in Kerala, told SBS Malayalam.
“However, the 71-year-old man has tested negative.”
SBS could not confirm which Australian airport they flew back to India from.
The authorities said the Indian nationals were visiting their children and grandchildren in Australia before returning in March.
After landing in New Delhi they were in quarantine.
According to the district authorities, they hired a taxi subsequently, in the midst of a complete lockdown in the country, and travelled more than 3,000 kilometres before reaching the Kerala border.
The couple was stopped at Kambamettu in the Tamil Nadu – Kerala border by the Kerala police and asked to go into quarantine again.
“A virology examination of her serum sample, collected at the Taluk Hosptial in Nedumkandam in Idukki district, how now been tested positive,” District Medical Office authorities told SBS Malayalam.
However, the authorities could not confirm if she contracted the virus after reaching India or before that.
The woman was admitted to the corona care centre in Kambamettu.
“As she is 65-years-old we are transferring to the Medical College Hospital in Kottayam, where we can provide her better care,” District Collector Sudheer Babu confirmed.
Kerala, which reported the first three cases of coronavirus in India in late January, has already caught worldwide attention with its success in contact tracing and slowing the spread of the virus.
The state has reported more than 400 cases, with more than two-thirds of them recovered already. The Kottayam Medical College Hospital was also in the spotlight when a 93-year-old man and his 88-year-old wife recovered more than a month ago, becoming the oldest patients in the country to recover.
The total number of coronavirus cases in India has gone past 20,000 with more than 650 deaths.
