Express news service

COIMBATORE: A couple with a travel history from Sweden who arrived in Coimbatore on the third week of December tested positive for Covid-19. Sources from the health department said that the couple had “S” recurrence, which indicates that they may be affected by the Omicron variant.

According to sources, the couple – a 41-year-old man and his 36-year-old wife – arrived at Coimbatore International Airport from Sweden via New Delhi on December 12. After their samples gave a negative result, the health department isolated them at their home. The second sample was collected on the eighth day of the isolation, which gave a positive result. While the woman was admitted to ESI Hospital, sources said her husband was admitted to Government Medical College in Idukki, Kerala.

Asked why the man was admitted to Kerala Hospital, sources said he left Coimbatore after completing his seven-day home isolation after the health staff collected his second sample. However, he was asked to be admitted to the health center in the affected district of Kerala by informing that his sample tested positive for the infection.

“The man cooperated with us and was admitted to the hospital in Kerala. He went there for some work and we are tracking his condition,” said an official.

City Health Officer Sathish Kumar told TNIE that samples of the couple were sent to the State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL) in Chennai for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) because they had “S” relapses.

Sathish said that both couples were asymptomatic and that their condition was stable. So far, six international travelers have tested positive for the virus infection in Coimbatore – among them, two travelers’ samples had no “S” gene, he said, adding that the sample without the “S” gene could also be an alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2.

“The six travelers were from Singapore, the Czech Republic, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden. We have also collected samples from their close contacts,” he added.

Currently, 786 international travelers are undergoing home isolation. Among them, 27 people will probably undergo the second RT-PCR test on Friday.