New Delhi: One more case tested positive for SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in Vellore in Tamil Nadu as Kolkata reported a case of SARS suspect on April 29.

Though details were not available, the positive case in Tamil Nadu is said to be of an Indian who arrived from Singapore last week and was admitted to the Christian Medical College (CMC) hospital in Vellore.

The new suspected SARS case in Kolkata, second in the last 24 hours, is an Indian national who arrived at the NSCB International Airport early on April 29 via Bangkok and showed symptoms of SARS.

The 32-year-old passenger, a resident of Gorakhpur, was isolated and sent to the Infectious Disease Hospital for diagnosis, sources said.

Meanwhile, reports said that about 30 per cent of doctors and para-medical staff at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kolkata, earmarked for SARS cases, did not report to work today for the fear of catching infection.

Panic spread in the hospital last evening (Apr 29) after reports from Pune-based National Institute of Virology confirmed Radheshyam Gupta, a resident of Tangra area, as the city's second SARS victim on his return from Bankok.

An official of the Kolkata branch of Indian Medical Association said that the medical staff was scared since the Infectious Diseases hospital lacked basic protection gear.

The state government had been lax in sprucing up arrangements at the hospital despite the fact that Kolkata served as the entry point to most South East Asian countries, the official said.

PTI