Corona outbreak: 7 Italian tourists untraceable in city

Varanasi: The health department is yet to locate the whereabouts of seven Italian tourists, who left for Varanasi from Mirzapur on Friday, even as three more positive cases of coronavirus were reported from the country on Saturday. However, Mirzapur district administration claimed that the Varanasi health department had been intimated about their departure.
“We had received a telephonic intimation, not written, from Mirzapur chief medical officer Dr O P Tiwari on Friday, but we are yet to receive any information about their arrival in the city,” Varanasi CMO Dr V B Singh told TOI on Saturday.
However, Mirzapur district magistrate Sushil Kumar Patel said the Varanasi CMO was informed again on Saturday regarding the movement of Italian tourists.
Seven Italian tourists, who arrived at Mirzapur on Thursday, sent the local administration into a tizzy in view of the coronavirus scare. With more than 100 casualties due to the virus, Italy is one of the high-prevalence countries after China. As soon as the staff at the hotel where they checked in on Thursday came to know about their nationality, they informed the local administration and health officials. A team of doctors then rushed to the hotel and all the seven Italians were examined. However, no symptom of coronavirus was detected in them.
The Italian group arrived Delhi on February 25, and reached Mirzapur after visiting Khajuraho, Chitrakoot and Prayagraj. As per protocol, those who come in contact with the infected persons or have arrived from the affected place are kept in isolation for 14 days.