Man gets COVID-19 positive result in middle of train journey

New Delhi, August 01: A 29-year-old man was deboarded from the Kozhikode-Thiruvananthapuram Jan Shatabdi Express on Friday and sent to hospital after he received his positive COVID-19 test result in the middle of the train journey.

He left for his home in Kanyakumari before his results arrived. Health authorities alerted Ernakulam Town Station, where he was deboarded.

According to officials, the man had given samples for a COVID-19 test three days ago, but boarded the train before the result was out.

The man is a contract worker at Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode district.
Before the result returned, he left for his hometown after coming to know that his pregnant wife had been hospitalised.

The man had boarded the train to reach his hometown in Tamil Nadu and he received a call in midway from health officials asking him to get down at the Ernakulam Town railway station.

Health officials in Kozhikode after coming to know that the man was COVID-19 positive contacted him but the train had already left the station.

Though they informed health officials in Thrissur district, by the time they reached Thrissur station, the train had left from there too. Then health authorities in Ernakulam who then reached the EKM Town station and shifted the man to the hospital.

He was then immediately rushed by the authority to the Government Medical College in Kalamassery where he is presently under treatment.

Notably, after the man got down, the compartment where the man travelled was sealed, preventing other people from entering it.

Three others who were in the compartment with him were also shifted to another seat in the train. The train then continued its way.

"The details of all the passengers who were in the compartment were shared with state health officials for necessary further action," said an official with the Railways. He also said that measures have been taken to sanitise the train completely in Thiruvananthapuram.