Coronavirus in India: 28 cases confirmed including 16 Italian tourists, alert in the country

Twenty-eight persons have tested positive for Coronavirus in India, including 16 Italian tourists. The Union Ministry of Health is taking several measures along with the state governments to stop the spread of the virus and have taken steps for isolation and cure.

Till Monday, India had five positive cases, including one Italian tourist, who had tested positive and is currently under treatment. His wife has been kept in isolation and is under watch.

Three cases of COVID-19 were first found in Kerala (who have now been treated and released), two more Indians were tested positive – one in Delhi and another in Hyderabad. The fifth person in India is the Italian tourist.

So far, 438 persons in India have been reported as suspects, of which 225 have completed 28 days of surveillance, and 189 are still under observation. At least 89 persons have been kept in isolation. Out of 118 tested, 103 have been found negative and results of 14 are awaited, an official release said.

The Ministry of Health has issued a set of preventive measures to check the spread of Coronavirus in India. The government has also created a 24×7 helpline number and an email ID ([email protected]) for information relating to COVID-19.

Here is a brief on the present situation of Coronavirus in India:

 

Situation in Delhi

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) confirmed on Wednesday that 15 Italian tourists have tested positive. All of them have been quarantined at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility in Delhi.

 

An Indian man from New Delhi was declared positive on Tuesday. He had traveled to Italy and returned to India on February 25. Two schools in Noida (Noida is in Uttar Pradesh) suspended classes after it was found that one of the students was the son of the patient from Delhi. The man had thrown a birthday party for his child last week which was attended by children from these schools, thus posing risk to the students who attended the party. However, the schools have been checked and found to be free from the virus.

Samples from six persons were collected in this connection on Tuesday for testing, of whom three are children. Two children are aged 12 years while the third is a five-year-old. All the samples have tested negative, officials said.

However, all of them have been kept under observation for the next 14 days and will be re-tested. Also, all the passengers who flew along with the person in the Vienna-Delhi flight on February 25 and the crew have been asked to follow the protocol notified by the Ministry of Health.

 

In Telangana and Karnataka

A 25-year old techie from Bengaluru in Karnataka tested positive for the virus after traveling to Secundrabad in Telangana. Altogether, 88 people had been identified who had traveled with this man, and after conducting tests, 36 have shown symptoms according to Telangana government officials. More tests are required for confirmation.

 

In Kolkata

So far, no positive cases have been reported in Kolkata. However, the first positive cases of the Coronavirus in India had a Kolkata connection. The first three positive cases in India – reported from Kerala – were passengers who had travelled to the southern state of India from China through Kolkata.

However, though several cases have been reported in Kolkata on the basis of suspicion and symptoms, no cases have been tested positive so far. The Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital in Kolkata’s Beliaghata has isolation wards to handle COVID-19 patients while all state-run hospitals have opened isolation wards to immediately quarantine patients on the basis of suspicion.

 

In Gujarat

The state government in Gujarat has kept 87 people who returned from Iran, under watch, as a preventive measure as there have been several reported cases of the COVID-19 in Iran.

 

In Uttar Pradesh

So far, 23 persons in Uttar Pradesh – chiefly from Agra and Noida were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for testing. Reports have come for 13 of them and six were identified as “suspects”. Reports of the remaining 10 are awaited.

 

In Rajasthan

An Italian man in Jaipur has tested positive for COVID-19 and his wife has shown symptoms. The man had travelled to Agra earlier. He is undergoing treatment while his wife has been kept in isolation.