India’s First Coronavirus Case Confirmed

NEW DELHI: In the first case, a person from Kerala has been tested positive of Novel Coronavirus, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. The student was in Wuhan university and has been kept in isolation ward in a hospital.

The ministry said that the patient, a woman, is stable and is also being closely monitored.

Kerala health minister KK Shailaja has said that around 20 samples were tested positive for n-CoV.

The death toll from the deadly virus on Thursday has risen to 170 in China, from 132 on Wednesday. The confirmed cases numbered 7,783 across the world, with as many as 7,678 in mainland China.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday asked Indians to refrain from travelling to China where the novel coronavirus has claimed over 100 lives. The ministry issued a fresh travel advisory and also urged people travelling to China to monitor their health closely. It asked people to use 24x7 helpline (011-23978046) for queries related to respiratory infection.

The health minister has urged passengers who have a travel history to China since January 1, 2020, to come forward for self-reporting to the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc., and also inform their treating doctor.

A 24x7 NCDC Call Centre has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs, provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them, and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer.

The Health Ministry has asked passengers to follow certain dos and don'ts if they are in China or if they are travelling or returning from China. The advisory stated that during their stay in China, if they feel sick and have fever and cough, then they should cover their mouth while coughing and sneezing, seek medical attention promptly and report to the Indian Embassy in China.

It said if they feel sick on flight, while travelling back to India from China, they should inform the airline crew about their illness, seek mask and self-reporting format from the airline crew, avoid close contact with family members or fellow travellers and follow other directions of crew and airport health officer.

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