India’s COVID-19 cases rise to 30

New Delhi: A man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), taking the total number of such cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

In some relief for Telangana, blood samples of two persons from the state which were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for confirmation tested negative.

Telangana Health Minister E Rajender said the samples were of a man who came from Italy and a sanitary worker at an IT company.

He said a software professional from the state working in Bengaluru who tested positive is suspected to have contracted it in Dubai and his condition is improving. The man is currently undergoing treatment at the state-run Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad.

Till Wednesday, 29 people, including 16 Italian tourists, tested positive for coronavirus. The list includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. The three persons have been discharged following recovery.

Officials on Thursday said one more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad and the middle-aged man recently travelled to Iran.

Meanwhile, five people, who came in contact with the Paytm employee who works in Gurgaon and lives in west Delhi have been tested and quarantined till their results come in, Delhi government health officials said. The Paytm employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurgaon, an official said, citing his counterpart in the suburban town.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced that all primary schools in the national capital will remain closed till March 31 to prevent the possibility of spread of coronavirus. Primary classes of Kendriya Vidyalayas in the national capital will also remain closed till March 31.

The outbreak also cast a shadow on the India-EU summit, which was slated to be held later this month and will now be rescheduled.

According to MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, India and EU decided to reschedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Brussels in view of the advice by health authorities. He also said no case of any Indian being affected by coronavirus in Iran has emerged and Indian embassies across world are on the job to help Indians.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said an Indian medical team is in Iran and authorities here are working on the logistics with their Iranian counterparts for the return of the Indians stranded there. He said the Indian medical team was likely to set up its first clinic at Qom to start screening for coronavirus.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan sought to allay fears saying the government is taking all steps to prevent spread of coronavirus and the scale of interventions has been increased in alignment with the evolving situation in India where 28,529 people have been brought under community surveillance and monitoring.

Making a suo motu statement first in Rajya Sabha and then in Lok Sabha on steps taken to contain the virus, he said as on March 4, 29 positive cases have been reported in the country.

The Health Ministry said in addition to COVID-19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed and so it has been decided to involve district collectors and states have been asked to form rapid response teams as the district, block and village levels.

It also said that India has imposed additional visa restrictions on people travelling from or having visited Italy and South Korea, making it mandatory for them to submit certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from laboratories authorised by the health authorities of their countries. This will come into effect from midnight of March 10 and is a temporary measure till cases of novel coronavirus subside, the ministry said in a travel advisory.