No known virus source in 5 cases points to community transmission

While every single positive case adds to the concern, it is community transmission that spreads the infection at an exponential rate, which in turn would bring an unbearable burden on the State’s healthcare infrastructure.

According to officials from the State Health department, they are not yet sure about the travel or contact histories of these five patients – which means it would be difficult to identify and test those who came in touch with these persons. That is, they too could have caught the infection but would not know till they show the symptoms, by which time a large number of people whom they would have come in touch with would also have gotten the virus.

The first such person without any of history to foreign country was the 25-yearold man hailing from Uttar Pradesh. He had taken a train from Delhi to Chennai. After tracking his travel history, the officials had said he was in touch with 163 persons. However, the Health department is yet to reveal the source of infection.

The second such case was that of a 55-year-old woman from Saidapet who tested positive for on March 24. She too has no contact or travel histories. The concern over community spread spiked on March 27 when three COVID positive cases were reported, none with travel history. One is a 25-year-old woman from Chennai who is now admitted to a government hospital in Ariyalur.

The other two are a 73-yearold woman from Pammal and a 39-year-old man from Anna Nagar, who are undergoing treatment at the isolation wards in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital respectively.

In all these three cases, the Health department officials are silent on the source of infection. They have neither provided travel history nor contact history, but have only stated that their condition is stable.

The absence of any details on the travel and contact histories in these five cases indicates transmission of infection due to community spread. Not knowing these details also hamper efforts to contain the spread of the virus. Health Department sources said they could have left a trail of infected people. This would mean, the people who got infected from the first five would have given infections to more people. Official sources from the department admitted that they fear community spread was already on in the State, but added that they did not know for sure if these cases indeed belong to that category. Sources indicated that serious steps need to be taken if community spread is confirmed.