2 passengers with travel history to Italy, South Korea quarantined at Jammu hospital

Two passengers with a travel history to Italy and South Korea have been shifted to the quarantine ward at a government medical college hospital in Jammu, officials said on Wednesday.

Jammu and Kashmir has been put on alert to deal with any threat emerging due to coronavirus, even though no positive case has been found in the Union Territory so far, officials said.

The tests of the two persons have been sent to Delhi and symptomatic passengers have been instructed for home quarantine, they said.

Around 200 people have been identified with travel history to coronavirus-affected countries or those who have had contact with persons from such countries, the officials said.

Twenty-one suspected cases have been tested till date and "no positive case has been reported so far across J-K", a senior official said.

"A 100 per cent self declaration at the airports of Jammu and Srinagar will start from Thursday to trace any such person having travel history to the infected countries," he said.

"Further, check points for passengers travelling by road have been set up at Lakhanpur and Lower Munda (Zig) to identify individuals with travel history to these countries," he added.

Also, 24x7 data control centres have been established at Srinagar and Jammu to receive information on travellers coming from the coronavirus-affected countries, Principal Secretary, Planning and Information Rohit Kansal said, adding that all suspected cases are being managed through defined protocols.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba held a meeting with chief secretaries and health secretaries of states and UTs through video conference to review their preparedness to deal with coronavirus.

The Union health secretary and other senior functionaries of the Government of India also participated in the meeting.

While interacting with them, the cabinet secretary sought details of arrangements put in place for containment of COVID-19.

The states and UTs have been asked to scrupulously follow the guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry with regard to surveillance and contact tracing, surveillance at entry points, sample collection, packaging and transport, clinical management protocol and infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities.

The cabinet secretary asked the chief secretaries to review, assess and monitor the arrangements in the states and UTs, and ensure adequate quarantine, isolation facilities and equipment are available to deal with suspected or confirmed cases as per the mandated protocol. 

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