Published 17:26 IST, February 9th 2020
Health Ministry gives update on coronavirus, 9452 persons under community surveillance
Amid the scare of the novel Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health on Sunday took to Twitter and issued an update on the status of virus in India.
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Amid the scare of the novel Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health on Sunday took to Twitter and issued an update on the status of virus in India. According to the Ministry, a total of 9452 persons are currently under community surveillance in India. Out of the total 1510 samples that have been tested, three were already reported positive from Kerala.
Issuing further updates, the health ministry said that the "Universal screening for all flights from Singapore and Thailand besides Hong Kong and China is already ongoing at earmarked aero-bridges. The screening of passengers is now on at all 21 airports, International Seaports and border crossings." Giving the statistics, it said that as of now, 1818 flights and 1,97,192 passengers have been screened so far.
Update on #NovelCoronavirus:
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) February 9, 2020
9452 persons are under community surveillance in 32 States/UTs.
1510 samples tested; 1507 found negative except for 3 positive cases already reported from Kerala.@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts
Ministry of Health issues helpline number
Harsh Vardhan-led Ministry of Health has issued a helpline number for queries on the novel Coronavirus. According to the ministry, a 24*7 Call Centre will be active for responding to queries. The novel coronavirus helpline number is: +91-11-23978046
Helpline for queries on Novel #coronavirus :
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 28, 2020
A 24*7 Call Centre is active for responding to queries on #ncov2020. Please make note of this number.@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @MoCA_GoI @AAI_Official @PIB_India @DDNewslive @shipmin_india @PIBHomeAffairs pic.twitter.com/H9ddGYlI5P
About Coronavirus
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Coronaviruses are transmitted between animals and people. WHO stated that "detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans."
WHO further stated that common signs of the virus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. Further, in severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure or can even prove to be fatal.
Speaking about the preventions, WHO said that regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs, avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing is necessary.
Read: 15 Kerala students stranded in China's Hubei reach Kochi; no nCoV symptoms, advised to stay at home
Wuhan on lockdown
In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, China has put Wuhan and Huanggang under a lockdown, suspending public transport in and out of the city, stated international reports. The virus which was first reported to the World Health Organization on December 31 is currently under investigation by scientists to understand the destructive potential of the new virus, known as 2019-nCoV, as per reports. Currently, the virus has killed as many as 80 people in China until now.
17:26 IST, February 9th 2020