Kochi/Mumbai: As many as 14 people who returned from China, including 10 in Kerala, are under observation in various hospitals to check for possible exposure to the deadly coronavirus.
From the hundreds of passengers who arrived from China in the recent days, 10 in Kerala, two in Mumbai and one each in Bengaluru and Hyderabad are being monitored by health workers, reported PTI quoting central and state officials.
Out of the 10 under observation in Kerala, four people are being treated in Ernakulam Medical College and other hospitals. The remaining people are presently at their homes, Manorama News reported on Saturday.
The Union Health ministry said of these 14 people, two persons who were kept under observation at a Mumbai hospital and one person each under watch in Hyderabad and Bengaluru have tested negative.
"ICMR-NIV Pune has informed that 4 samples (2 from Mumbai, 1each from B'luru & Hy'bad) have tested NEGATIVE for nCoV. One of Mumbai patients has tested positive for Rhinovirus, one of the routine common cold virus," the ministry tweeted.
Officials in Kerala said another 73 people were being kept under medical surveillance at their homes in the state.
High vigil at airports
As over 20,000 passengers returning from mainland China and Hong Kong underwent thermal screenings at the seven international airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has set up an isolation ward and kept beds ready for providing treatment to any suspected case of the respiratory infection.
According to Kerala state health ministry officials in Thiruvananthapuram, four people who had shown mild symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat are under watch in state-run hospitals in different districts in the state. Two of them are in Kochi while one each is in observation in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta, reported PTI.
The state government has advised those under home surveillance to remain at home for 28 days from the date of their departure from China.
The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus in China is a novel strain and not seen before. It has killed 26 people so far, and has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
The Union health ministry official said a total of 20,844 passengers who travelled in 96 flights from China have been screened at the airports till January 24.
Also, on the basis of the details provided by the Indian Embassy in China, around 25 students who have returned to India recently from Wuhan are being closely monitored.
Their details have been shared with district-level officers and they are being monitored closely for any symptoms.
Till now, no cases of coronavirus infection have been detected during screening, a health department official said.
Coronavirus cases were first reported from Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei province.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has created an isolation ward at the Kasturba hospital.
"The isolation ward has been created for diagnosis and treatment of persons suspected to have the virus infection," said Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer of the BMC.
Keskar said the two persons under observation at the hospital had mild cough and exhibited cold-related symptoms.
Doctors at the airport have been asked to send travellers returning from China to the isolation ward if they show any symptoms of the novel coronavirus, she said.
"All private doctors in the city have been asked to alert us if they observe symptoms of coronavirus in any person who has returned from China," she added.
(With inputs from PTI)
