Three more positive cases of coronavirus were reported on Sunday taking the total number of people infected with the deadly disease in India to 34, even as a final confirmation is awaited on two other cases in Punjab who tested positive in the preliminary test, said officials.
Out of the three confirmed fresh cases, two were reported from the Union Territory of Ladakh and one was reported from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
The residents detected with the coronavirus in Ladakh had recently returned from Iran—the second most infected country after China, the place of infection’s origin, while the Tamil Nadu resident had visited Oman.
All three patients who tested positive are said to be stable.
Final test results are awaited for two residents of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district who also tested positive for the virus in the preliminary test, as per state health officials. The men found to be infected in the preliminary test had recently returned from Italy and were hospitalized in Amritsar after symptoms of the virus were seen upon their arrival at the airport. Their samples have been sent to NIV Pune for confirmation.
A Delhi resident was confirmed for the infection on Friday who had recently been to Thailand and Malaysia. Two other Delhi residents have already been diagnosed with the virus and are undergoing treatment.
The disease has now spread to new regions in the world and crossed 100,000 global infections mark in less than three months.
Authorities are busy tracking down thousands of potential cases every day by calling people arriving in the country from international destinations affected by the virus and also tracing all those who came in contact with positive cases diagnosed so far.
More than 3,400 people have died globally and 90 countries are affected with the virus, six of them reported their first cases on Friday.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan had told parliament on Thursday that close to 30,000 people were being monitored as per the tracking operation launched by the government.
Residents across the country have been asked to avoid large gatherings and the Central and state governments have cancelled several such events, including for celebrating Holi and the Women’s Day as a preventive step.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the health ministry and other government departments on Saturday to take stock of the situation.
Around 52 sample testing centres have been established across the country including two in Delhi while more than 50 centres across the country have been authorized to collect samples from patients suspected to be carrying the disease.
Several schools and offices have been closed, and more employers are asking their staff to work from home.
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