Ropar and Patiala residents returned from China test negative for coronavirus

PATIALA: The samples of three residents, including one from Ropar and two from Patiala have tested negative for novela coronavirus. The health department said that no more samples have been sent for testing to NIV, Pune so far.
A middle-aged Ropar resident who used to work in a private software company in Zirakpur was kept in isolation at his home and was under keen observation by the Ropar health department after his return from China on January 23. He had gone to Wuhan airport, China where he spent four hours but did not come into contact with any infected patient, according to the health department.
His samples were sent for testing on Saturday to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. “The samples of the suspected patients have been tested negative and so far no more samples have been sent for testing from Ropar district. The suspect had not shown any symptoms since he returned but we still wanted to confirm reports to be tabled before us,” said chief medical officer Ropar, Dr HN Sharma.
Similarly, in Patiala district, samples of two suspected patients were sent for testing and they were kept under observation after they had returned from Guangzhou, China on January 20. They had gone to China on a business trip. One of the suspected patients is from Rajpura town of Patiala district, while another is from Patiala city. Their samples were collected on Friday in accordance with the directions of the state health department.