New Delhi, March 2: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Monday announced the expansion of universal screening of all passengers arriving in flights from Italy and Iran amid the global outbreak of noval coronavirus. The following announcement comes after Union Health Ministry issued a travel advisory and informed that existing visas including e-visas will remain suspended for China and Iran.

Informing about the latest development, the DGCA said in a statement, "In order to prevent spread of Coronavirus in India, it has been decided to expand the universal screening of all passengers arriving in flights from Italy and Iran besides the flights from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam & Malaysia." Coronavirus: Global Death Toll in COVID-19 Outbreak Passes 3000, Over 88,000 Infected Across The World.

Here's the ANI tweet:

Apart from the recent update, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had appealed the Indian citizens to refrain from visiting non-essential travel to China, Iran, Korea, Singapore, and Italy. Briefing the press conference, he said that the India is well prepared to deal with Coronavirus and several ministries are closely monitoring other countries.

Meanwhile, Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender had said that they are conducting meeting with Department officials and are taking precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Similar statement was issued by Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma.

It is to be known that on Monday, the Health Ministry officials confirmed that two patients - each in Delhi and Telangana - have tested positive to the virus. The identities of the victims were yet to be confirmed by the time preliminary reports had emerged. Earlier, three cases of coronavirus were reported in India -- all in the southern state of Kerala.

The global coronavirus outbreak has claimed 3,000 lives so far and affected over 88,000 individuals. The bulk of the casualties, over 90 percent, has been recorded in China. Around 50 deaths have also been reported in Iran, whereas, fatalities were also registered in France, Italy and the United States. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a "global health emergency", calling for a concerted approach to curb its spread.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2020 08:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).