JAIPUR: Panic spread in Bikaner after a fake message about a man, who recently returned from novel coronavirus (Covid-19)-affected Italy, went viral on social media stating that he had been tested positive for the infection. The district health department checked the claim and confirmed that the message was fake, adding that the man, a 24-year-old farmer, is a coronavirus suspect but not a confirmed case yet.
The farmer, a resident of Bikaner’s Lunkaransar, had gone to Italy — the centre of an outbreak in Europe with more than 1,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases — for some agricultural work. He returned to Bikaner on February 26, following which he was home-quarantined at his native Kalu village. A health official goes to his place every day for a checkup. He will remain in isolation for the next 28 days, said officials.
“The man is a suspected case of Covid-19. We have been keeping an eye on his health since he returned from Italy. He is fine and doesn’t have any symptoms of the disease. His samples will be taken again for a Covid-19 test in Sawai Man Singh medical college,” said Dr BL Meena, chief medical health officer, Bikaner. “We checked the message and found it to be fake. The sender was confused and wrote ‘ sankramit’ (infected) instead of ‘ sandigdh’ (suspected),” added Dr Meena. The farmer, meanwhile, is extremely irked by the number of calls and messages he has been receiving every day.
The coronavirus epidemic — first reported in China’s Wuhan — has so far spread to 60 countries, infecting around 87,000 as of Sunday and killing almost 3,000 people worldwide.
The farmer, a resident of Bikaner’s Lunkaransar, had gone to Italy — the centre of an outbreak in Europe with more than 1,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases — for some agricultural work. He returned to Bikaner on February 26, following which he was home-quarantined at his native Kalu village. A health official goes to his place every day for a checkup. He will remain in isolation for the next 28 days, said officials.
“The man is a suspected case of Covid-19. We have been keeping an eye on his health since he returned from Italy. He is fine and doesn’t have any symptoms of the disease. His samples will be taken again for a Covid-19 test in Sawai Man Singh medical college,” said Dr BL Meena, chief medical health officer, Bikaner. “We checked the message and found it to be fake. The sender was confused and wrote ‘ sankramit’ (infected) instead of ‘ sandigdh’ (suspected),” added Dr Meena. The farmer, meanwhile, is extremely irked by the number of calls and messages he has been receiving every day.
The coronavirus epidemic — first reported in China’s Wuhan — has so far spread to 60 countries, infecting around 87,000 as of Sunday and killing almost 3,000 people worldwide.
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