Coronavirus: '28 Cases In India So Far, Universal Screening Of Passengers From Now,' Says Health Minister; 10 Points

Coronavirus: Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who addressed the media after a high-level meeting over the outbreak of COVID-19 in India, said that from now passengers coming from any country will have to undergo screening.

Coronavirus: "We have requested all hospitals in Delhi to develop good quality isolation wards," said Harsh Vardhan/ Image: ANI

New Delhi: India has had a total of 28 positive cases of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus so far, out of which three have been treated in Kerala, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday as he emphasized on adopting precautionary measures to combat the spread of the contagion which has infected more than 60 countries in the world. Of the 28 positive cases, 16 are foreigners (Italians) while 12 are Indian nationals, the health minister said in a press conference held after a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Health officials. He said that the first three cases that had surfaced in Kerala have been treated. The one case that emerged in Delhi led to further spread of the virus in six of his relatives in Agra, all of who are kept in isolation. “On conducting contact tracing of the person tested positive in Delhi, we came to know that he infected 6 members of his family who are in Agra. All 6 members tested positive for the virus,” he said.

Another case came up Telangana. Then, In a group of  21 Italian tourists who had come to India, one got the symptoms and then other 15 were infected from him. The driver of the group who was an Indian national was also infected, Harsh Vardhan told the media.

" A state-level task force has been constituted to control the situation arising due to Corona Virus. It will be chaired by me. It includes members from several agencies, departments & corporations. Each member has been assigned a role "

-Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

Here are the major takeaways from Health Minister’s media address:

• We have requested all hospitals in Delhi to develop good quality isolation wards, in order to stay prepared if more cases of Coronavirus are suspected in the national capital.
• A meeting of a group of Union Ministers to be held again today at Nirman Bhawan
• From now on, all flights and passengers will be part of universal screening, not just the 12 countries which we had listed earlier
• 15 laboratories have been set up for the detection of the virus in the first phase, 19 more have been set up later.
• Those who are infected must isolate themselves, drink lot of water and take rest.
• To prevent the spread of the coronavirus we need to maintain hygiene, avoid mass gatherings, wash hands at regular intervals, avoid proximity with other people.
• Around 5,89,000 people were screened at the airports till yesterday.
• Over 15,000 entrants have been screened at minor and major seaports and over 10 lakhs at the border of Nepal, till yesterday.
• Iran government have cooperated with India. Yesterday we sent one of our experts to Iran, will send four more scientists.
• We will try to test our people in Iran itself, for this we are planning to establish our lab in Iran.

Of the 28 positive cases, 16 are foreigners (Italians) while 12 are Indian nationals, the health minister said in a press conference held after a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Health officials.