Coronavirus Reaches Delhi As First Positive Case Reported, Another Case Confirmed In Telangana
The Union Health Ministry has confirmed that two new cases of the Coronavirus (Covid19) have been reported in India.
One of the cases was reported in Delhi and another case was reported from Telangana. Both the patients who have tested positive had a history of foreign travel.
According to the Health Ministry, the person from Delhi had recently travelled to Italy, while the one from Telangana had a travel history from Dubai.
The condition of the two patients are said to stable and that they are being closely monitored.
This makes the number of people tested positive for Covid 19 in India to five. The three previous cases, all from Kerala had recovered and has since been discharged from hospital. They had contracted the virus from the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, China where they were studying.?
Following the development, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said passengers coming from 12 countries will be screened at airports to check for the infection.?
"We are already prepared in advance and are closely monitoring other countries. We are also discussing if we have to revise any of our decisions, amplify it or focus in any particular direction," he said.
Harsh Vardhan also said that "Under the travel advisory, existing visas including e-visas will remain suspended for China and Iran. As the situation develops, the travel restrictions may be further extended to other countries also."
The ministry has also set up a helpline number for coronavirus is 011-23978046 and the email is ncov2019@gmail.com
"People should maintain hygiene, wash hands properly and avoid going to crowded places," the Health Minister said.
In January the Ministry of AYUSH had released a health advisory that?advocates the use of homeopathy and Unani medicines?to ward off infections of coronavirus, which the scientific community has rejected.?
Another unsubstantiated claim about preventing Covid-19 was made by Swami Chakrapani Maharaj, president of Hindu Mahasabha. "Consuming cow urine and cow dung?will stop the effect of infectious coronavirus. A person who chants Om Namah Shivay and applies cow dung on the body will be saved," he had claimed.
This comes as the global death toll from Covid 19 surpassed 3,000 on Monday after more people died in China. With 54 deaths so far, Iran has reported the most number of fatalities outside China.
Deaths have also been reported from South Korea, Japan, the US, and Italy.
The virus has now infected more than 88,000 people and spread to more than 60 countries after first emerging in China.
