Bengal COVID-19 patient’s parents, drivers test negative

Kolkata, March 19 (IANS) The parents and the two drivers of the first confirmed coronavirus patient in West Bengal on Wednesday tested negative for the disease.

Their samples were sent to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) here on Tuesday night.

However, state health department sources said they would be kept at the isolation centre in North East Kolkata’s Rajarhat for 14 days and tested again.

“Unless there is a minimum level of viraemia, it cannot be detected by tests. That means the virus may be there in your body, and you may be spreading it to others, but that cannot be detected. We call this window period. If the first test is negative, we have to keep them in isolation, and then go for test again,” said critical care specialist Arindam Kar.

–IANS

ssp/rt