Elusive coronavirus patient sends officials on wild goose chase .....During which a purported namesake was tested and sent to a Covid-19 hospital

Subhasish Chaudhuri, TT, 15.05.20, Krishnagar: An unidentified Covid-19 patient who fled from an Asansol isolation centre five days ago after providing what later turned out to be a false address and phone number has sent officials from two districts on a wild goose chase, during which a purported namesake was tested and sent to a coronavirus hospital.

On May 7, a youth was intercepted in West Burdwan when he was trying to enter Bengal from Jharkhand. Since he had Covid-like symptoms, his swab sample was collected and then sent to an isolation centre in Asansol. But on May 9, a day before the result confirming coronavirus infection came in, the youth escaped.

As the youth had given a Chakdah (Nadia) address, Asansol police got in touch with local cops, who found out that the address was fake. Scanning voter data, the police found a person with the same name and surname in Tehatta.

When the police reached the Tehatta address, they found out that the person now lived in Krishnagar. On Wednesday night, the police tracked down the person to Krishnagar, collected his swab sample and sent him to a Covid hospital in Kalyani.

However, the relief was short-lived as it turned out that the man, an employee of a pharmaceutical firm, was not the same person. The police are yet to trace the youth who fled.