An Italian national in Rajasthan has tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in his second test, state health minister Raghu Sharma said on Monday. The minister added that the man came to Jaipur on February 29 but tested negative for the virus in his first test.
“We are sending his sample to National Institute of Virology, Pune, for cross verification but will keep him in isolation ward. We are trying to test people with whom he came in contact with during his stay here,” the minister said.
The case from Rajasthan was reported few hours after the Union health ministry announced two new cases of coronavirus – one in Delhi and the other in Telangana – taking the total number of positive cases in India to six.
“One positive case of Covid-19 has been detected in New Delhi, and one has been detected in Telangana,” the Union Health Ministry said in a release, referring to the official name of the disease.
“The person from Delhi has a travel history from Italy, while the one from Telangana has a travel history from Dubai,” the ministry said.
Earlier, in January, one suspected case of coronavirus in Rajasthan had tested negative. The blood report of the MBBS student who was suspected to have contracted the virus was received on January 29 and tested negative, said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health.
A total of 18 people from four districts of the state who had returned from visits to China have all been screened and none had any symptoms of the virus. However they will be monitored for 28 days as per the protocol, said Singh.
He said the health department is doing screening at the international terminal at the Jaipur airport. The department has deployed thermal scanners at the airport for scanning.
With fresh cases being reported in the country, the health ministry has increased screening and advised people to avoid non-essential travel to countries where most coronavirus infections are being reported from.
“The screening of passengers is being conducted at 21 airports, 12 major seaports and 65 minor seaports. 5,57,431 passengers have been screened so far at airports and 12,431 passengers have been screened on minor and major seaports,” Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said at a press briefing in New Delhi on Monday.
“We advise Indians to avoid non-essential travel to China, Iran, Korea, Singapore, and Italy. As the situation develops, the travel restrictions may be further extended to other countries also,” he added.
He also said that the country is “already prepared in advance and are closely monitoring other countries.”
Of the six cases in India so far, the first three were reported from Kerala. The state was successful in restricting the virus and discharged all three after their treatment.
The death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic surpassed 3,000 on Monday as more people died in China, Iran and the US and Europe raised its state of alert.
The virus has now infected more than 89,000, spread to over 60 countries and threatens to cause a global economic slowdown — after first emerging in China late last year.
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