New Delhi, February 14: Amid the rising fear of the deadly coronavirus, now named as COVID-19, the Health Ministry of India ensured that the situation in the country is in control and the government was closely monitoring the outbreak of respiratory illness caused by the virus. It added saying that all mechanism for in country surveillance and contact tracing were put in place through Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC.

COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China and which continues to expand till date. On Friday, the overall death toll due to the deadly coronavirus nears 1500 in China, with 63,851 confirmed cases. Apart from China, three deaths have been reported- one each from Japan, Philippines and Hong Kong.

In India, three positive cases of coronavirus were reported from Kerala. All the three patients-a female and two males- who were tested coronavirus positive were studying in Wuhan. On Thursday, the male patient, who had tested positive for coronavirus, has been discharged after two tests tested negative. He was was quarantined at the Alappuzha Medical College and was the second person who had showed up positive in the test.

Take a Look at the Discharge Policy of nCoV Case in India

Discharge Policy of Coronavirus in India (Photo Credits: Ministry of Health, India)

  1. Once a person is suspected of the COVID-19 virus, clinical samples will be sent for laboratory confirmation to designated laboratories.

  2. The case will be kept in isolation at health facility till the time of receipt of laboratory results and given symptomatic treatment as per existing guidelines.

  3. If the laboratory results for nCOV are negative, the discharge of such patients will be governed by his provisional/confirmed diagnosis and it is up to the treating physician to take a decision.

  4. The case shall still be monitored for 14 days after their last contact with a confirmed 2019-nCoV case

What Happens if a Person is Tested Positive for COVID-19

  1. In case the laboratory results are positive for nCOV, the case shall be managed as per the confirmed case management protocol.

  2. The case shall be discharged only after evidence of chest radiographic clearance and viral clearance in respiratory samples after twospecimens test negative for nCOV within a period of 24 hours.

Earlier this month, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said his  ministry is doing all that is possible to stop and contain the novel coronavirus infection in India. Vardhan added saying that a total of 1,818 flights had been screened covering at least 197,192 passengers since January 18.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 14, 2020 12:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).