COVID-19 positive civilian staff at Army's OTA in TN declared negative in fresh test

A civilian staffer working at the Officers' Training Academy (OTA) here tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday, two days after he was declared positive for the pathogen, the premier Army institute said.

The staff member was working in the OTA kitchen here and was admitted to a government hospital on Sunday "after reporting chest congestion," it said in a statement in the morning, adding, the person tested positive for COVID-19 the following day.

However, in an update issued later in the day, the OTA said the man has now been declared negative for the deadly virus.

The OTA civil staffer, "categorised as corona positive (earlier) has now been declared as COVID-19 negative by the (government) hospital based on test results received today," it said.

Strict precautionary measures will continue at OTA for prevention against the spread of the contagion, it added.

Earlier, the institute, which train cadets from foreign countries also, had said that as a precautionary measure all contacts of the civilian have been quarantined, and that no army cadets were staying there now.

"Presently there are no cadets in the Academy. One batch of cadets had recently passed out and the other batch undergoing training is presently on term break since March 8. OTA is functioning with minimal staff," it had said in its morning update.

OTA is a prestigious institution turning out a constant flow of competent officers for the Army every six months.