A man who returned to his native village in Gola block of Ramgarh district from Bhutan was rushed the RIMS in Ranchi on Saturday with “novel coronavirus-like symptoms”.

The 35-year-old man of Bablong village under Sangrampur panchayat, around 55km north-east of Ranchi, was working as a labourer with a private company in the neighbouring country.

Local sources said the man started feeling unwell in Bhutan where he went to a hospital for a check-up. Doctors there are learnt to have asked to undergo tests for tuberculosis. However, he left for his village in Ramgarh and reached here on Thursday. His condition kept deteriorating, which forced him to go to the community health centre in Gola.

Dr Shamim Akhtar there checked him and asked for the prescription of Bhutan. He found that the patient was having chest pain while coughing, headache, and a sore throat. Akhtar contacted Ramgarh civil surgeon Dr Neelam Choudhary, asking for guidelines.

The patient was sent to RIMS in Ranchi by ambulance amid security. Akhtar said the patient had symptoms similar to COVID-19.

“Moreover he came from Bhutan so no need to take any chance,” Akhtar said.

The development sparked panic in the community health centre and soon employees were seen rushing for masks.

On Friday, a 25-year-old man who had returned to his village in Giridih district’s Deori block from Delhi on Thursday was also sent to RIMS, Ranchi, with similar symptoms by Giridih civil surgeon Dr Awadhesh Sinha and nodal officer Dr S. Hembrom.

So far no one in Jharkhand has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Additional reporting by Suresh Prasad Nikhar