Avoid frozen meat; shaking hands while greeting in public: Delhi govt advisory on coronavirus

Delhi government on Wednesday issued a health visory on vel coronavirus (nCov) and prescribed do's and dont's for public to ward off any infection, including avoiding frozen meat, officials said.

Around--clock control room has also been set up at Directorate General of Health Services' hequarters to dress queries related to virus.

India has so far reported three positive cases of nCoV from Kerala, after its outbreak in China's Hubei province.

In its health visory, Delhi government has asked people to exercise caution, like cleaning hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub; covering se and mouth while coughing; sneezing using tissue; avoiding close contact with anyone with cold or flu like symptoms; avoiding frozen meat, besides isolation of symptomatic patients for at least 14 days.

Among do's prescribed to people, government has asked m to frequently wash hands with soap and water; avoid crowded places; stay more than an arm's length distance from persons sick with flu; take equate sleep and rest; and drink plenty of water and consume liquid diet and eat nutritious food, visory said.

It also said "persons suffering from influenza-like illness must be confined at home" and those suspected with such illness must consult a doctor.

On don'ts, it has vised people to t touch eyes, se or mouth with unwashed hands; avoid hugging, kissing and shaking hands while greeting people in public; t spit in public places; avoid excessive physical exercise and disposal of used napkin or tissue paper in open areas; t touching surfaces usually used by public such as railings, door gates, avoid smoking in public places; and t go for unnecessary testing.

A 24x7 control Room has been established at DGHS (HQ), and people may contact it on following number for any query relating to nCoV -- 011-22307145, 22300012, 22300036.

coronavirus strain officially named as 2019 n-CoV has wreaked havoc in China and abro, and by end of Tuesday, a total of 490 people h died of disease and 24,324 confirmed cases of virus infection h been reported in 31 provincial-level regions, China's National Health Commission reported on Wednesday.

Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said aerobridges will be used at at dedicated gates of seven international airports (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Cochin, Bengaluru, Hyderab and Chennai) to screen passengers from China, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong for vel coronavirus (nCoV) to ensure effective prevention.

vel coronavirus is a contagious virus that causes respiratory infection, can transfer from human to human. Its symptoms include, fever, difficulty in breathing, coughing, tightness in chest, pneumonia and kidney failure, visory said. 

(Im Credit: PTI)