43 flights, over 9000 passengers screened for novel coronavirus, no cases found: Health Secy

A total of 43 flights and 9,156 passengers were screened for novel coronavirus till Tuesday at the seven identified airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said on Wednesday. Till now, no cases have been detected through these screening efforts, she said.

Sudan further said the Indian Embassy in China has been regularly providing the health ministry with updates on the status of the infected cases in that country. The Embassy has informed that a total of 440 cases of pneumonia with novel coronavirus were confirmed in China and nine people have died till Wednesday.

"Cases have been reported in 14 provinces (including Taiwan) and municiplalities as well," the health secretary told PTI.