Two suspected COVID-19 cases in Hyderabad test negative

Two persons, including a techie, have tested negative for coronavirus, Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender said on Thursday.

He said the samples of the two suspected cases were tested negative at National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

While one of them is a software engineer, who had recently returned from Italy, the other is a sanitation worker of a private hospital.

The sanitation worker was one of those who came into contact with a techie, the lone positive case recorded in the state so far.

The minister said people need not panic as the state has not recorded any case of coronavirus contracted locally.

The techie, who was tested positive on March 2, had recently returned from Dubai.

The techie working for a software firm in Bengaluru underwent treatment at a private hospital here for five days before approaching government-run Gandhi Hospital.

His family members and others in his contact were advised self-isolation.

A total of 47 persons were tested at Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday. The officials had said 45 of them tested negative while samples of two others were sent to Pune for further testing.

The reports of the techie testing positive had triggered panic in one of the buildings at an information technology park, where the techie's office is located. The IT companies operating from that building had sent the employees home, asking them to work from their residence. IANS