Health ministry to identify all potential 'carriers'
New Delhi: Taking a cue from successful management of Ebola virus crisis, the government has on Monday stepped up its preparations to control the spread of the deadly novel Coronavirus in the country.
Leading from the front, as per sources, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba took stock of the situation and instructed Health ministry officials to work on a war footing to identify all potential "carriers" of the disease.
According to sources, in a precautionary measure, the Health Ministry has asked states to share the list of passengers who had visited the affected countries in the last three months.
The passengers who had visited countries including China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, the United States, France, Australia, Malaysia, Nepal and Canada in the recent months have been asked to contact NCDC helpline number (+91-11-23978046) immediately if they suffer from fever, headache, cough, sore throat, etc.
The Centre has also stepped up vigil in areas bordering Nepal in view of a confirmed case of novel Coronavirus detected there.
The Health Ministry on Monday said teams of healthcare professionals have been deployed in West Bengal's Panitanki and Uttarakhand's Jhulaghat and Jauljibi in Pithoragarh district, bordering Nepal.
Health Secretary Preeti Sudan also chaired a video-conference meeting with Chief Secretaries and police chiefs of the five states bordering Nepal — Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim to review their preparedness for prevention and management of the novel Coronavirus.
In a related development, it has found that all the samples tested at virology lab in Pune were found negative. In total, 17 samples were sent and out of that 14 were tested and all were found to be negative.
With the screening of 4,359 passengers in 18 flights from China on Monday, total 33,552 passengers have been screened in 155 flights.
Over 100 people have been kept under observation in Kerala and Maharashtra following screening for possible exposure to the novel Coronavirus.
