People who have returned from China and other novel coronavirus (nCoV)-affected areas in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and South-East Asia in the last one month have been asked to get in touch with the District Health and Family Welfare Office, Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh said here on Tuesday.
In a press release, Ms. Rupesh said that those who returned from nCoV-affected areas should be in touch with the district health officials regardless of whether they have symptoms of viral infection or not. Those who have come in contact with persons who have returned from nCoV-affected regions should also contact the health officials, she said.
These visitors can contact personnel at the District Health and Family Welfare Office on Ph: 0824 2423672 or personnel at the District Disease Surveillance Office on Ph: 0824-2427316. Calls can also be made to Arogya Sahayavani on Ph: 104. The information that is shared will be kept confidential, she said.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer M. Ramakrishna Rao said that the exercise was being carried out to ensure that virus-infected persons should not go undetected and untreated.
This request has come two days after a person from Kasaragod, who had returned from Japan, reported at a private hospital in the city with cold and fever. When he was asked to undergo treatment in isolation, he left the hospital stating that he will get treatment in Kanhangad, Kerala.
Meanwhile, district health officials said that they have so far not received any case of suspected nCoV. Ten beds have been set apart at the Government Wenlock Hospital in the city and personnel have been sensitised about the treatment procedure.
Meanwhile, at the New Mangalore Port, all the 1,841 passengers and 794 crew of Italian cruise vessel Costa Victoria, which arrived here on Tuesday morning, were screened. After scanning the passengers and the crew members by using a temperature scanner, NMPT officials took a declaration from the master of the vessel of the health status of the passengers and the crew members. The officials also took a copy of the tour itinerary.
About 1,500 passengers opted for a ground tour and visited local churches, temples and other places. The ship, which had come from Mumbai, sailed to Kochi at around 8 p.m. As many as 45 passengers, who disembarked at NMPT, were allowed to move out of the port only after they were found negative for nCoV symptoms, sources said.