New Delhi, March 4: India, which was so far considered to be largely immune to the novel coronavirus outbreak, is now treading cautiously to prevent its spread. The overall toll of COVID-19 cases jumped to 28 in India, after 14 Italian nationals who arrived in Delhi tested positive for the virus. They have been sent to isolation at the quarantine camp of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chhawla. Stay tuned here for all the live news updates related to the coronavirus outbreak in India and other parts of the world.
A day earlier, an Italian national quarantined in Jaipur had tested positive for the virus. Reports today confirmed that his wife has also been infected with the disease. The health department officials in Jaipur have launched a prioritised operation to trace down all locations where the couple went and all individuals whom them met. Coronavirus Live Map: How to Track The Spread of COVID-19 Across The Globe With This Dashboard.
"Till now, there have been 28 positive cases of Coronavirus in India. 14 out of 21 Italian nationals have found positive for coronavirus. They have been sent to at Indo-Tibetan Border Police's (ITBP) quarantine facility in Chhawla," said Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
The government also announced that beginning from today, passengers from all international flights would be screened for the novel coronavirus at all airports. Earlier, the universal health screening was applicable on only those passengers who had arrived from the 12 nations which are worst-affected by COVID-19.
"From now on, all flights and passengers will be part of universal screening, not just the 12 countries which we had listed earlier. We had screened about 5,89,000 at our airports, over 15,000 at minor and major seaports and over 10 lakhs at the border of Nepal, till yesterday," Harsh Vardhan added.
Schools in Delhi-NCR have written to the parents, asking them to not to send their children if they are even diagnosed with "mild cough and cold". The school notices further read that they may declare holidays on short notices considering the safety of children and staff. The notices were dispatched two days after two Noida schools decided to remain closed after some students had attended a birthday party hosted by a person infected with coronavirus.
While India has so far not recorded any death due to novel coronavirus, the toll across the world has jumped to nearly 3,000. The bulk of deaths have been reported in China, where 38 more fatalities were confirmed on Wednesday. However, no new case has been recorded in the country. South Korea is the second worst country hit by the novel coronavirus, followed by Iran. Globally, over 88,000 cases have been recorded.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 04, 2020 01:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).