A Ghaziabad man aged 57 yearshas become the 30thperson to be confirmed positive with coronavirus in India as he had recently traveled to Iran. The number of cases are increasingseverely as health authorities are awaiting the results of re-confirmation tests on 23 more people in whom the primary tests are showingpositive for the virus.

The Ghaziabad personis quarantined at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospital with his wife and son also been put in isolation at MMG District Hospital in Ghaziabad. Also, local authorities said that they had advised three of his employees to be in home isolation. Samples are taken from the 23 individuals and sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for final confirmation. The health ministry said thatfurthermore to coronavirus cases related to travel andfew cases of community transmission are being observed which is indicating that the virus might be spreading undetected in local communities also. Hence, the ministry said that states should form rapid response teams at the district and villages levels.

The novel coronavirus infection has killed more than 3,300 people worldwide and has infected approximately 96,000.

Blood samples of two persons from the Telangana state which were sent to the NIV have been tested negative. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said that all new coronavirus patients are stable. The 30 confirmed cases recorded till now include 16 Italian tourists from a single group.The list also includes the first 3 cases from Kerala and they have been discharged after recovery.

Almost 150 persons turned up for COVID-19 test at RML hospital on Thursday, which is the only centre equipped to take samples for the virus in Delhi-NCR. Most of these people had come in contact with the infected people.

More than 405 persons who had travelledto countries affected by coronavirus recently are kept underobservation in Noida and would sent them to RML for testing.

A doctor at the central government-run hospital said that they are under a lot of pressure because the number of persons are increasing rapidly for the tests with more confirmed cases and an increase need to test anyone who has come in close contact with the infected person.

Government sources said sample testing facilityis been started at31 new places in the country, with the 51 existing facilities available. The pressure on hospitals such as Safdarjung will ease due to this. In Delhi, six private hospitals which includes Max super specialty, BLK, Apollo, Action Balaji, Sir Ganga Ram and St Stephens hospital have already created isolation wards. In Gurgaon too, Medanta Medicity has created an isolation unit for Covid-19 cases and the 14 Italian patients are admitted here.

P K Mishra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, directed an inter-ministerial meeting to assessreadiness and response on the coronavirus issue. He highlighted that participation of the communities and local organizations is necessary to combat the public health posed due to the virus.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia had announced that all primary schools in Delhi will remain closed till 31st March.

Source: ET Healthworld