Assam quarantines 127 people after American tourist tests positive for coronavirus

Assam on March 7 quarantined 127 people who came in contact with an American tourist infected with the coronavirus. According to reports, a 76-year-old American citizen had visited Guwahati and tested positive for the virus when he travelled to Bhutan last week. As per reports, an Italian tourist is also among the 127 people who has been quarantined. Media reports say that the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati where the American tourist stayed before flying to Bhutan has been sanitised. 

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As per reports, 23 staff members from the hotel with whom the American tourist came in contact have been asked to self-quarantine themselves. All the staff members were screened on Saturday and none of them showed any symptoms of the infection. In Jorhat district of Assam, where the American tourist stayed on a river cruise MV Mahabaahu was also checked and 22 guests and 29 crew members have been sent into isolation. According to reports, the Assam government informed that they screened around 585 passengers at Guwahati airport out of which 112 are foreign nationals and none of them tested positive for coronavirus. At least 200 people were screened at Assam's Kaziranga National Park and none of them tested positive either, local media reported.

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Coronavirus outbreak

The new coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has claimed more than 3,500 lives across the globe and has infected over 1,00,000 people around the world since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were being traded illegally. According to reports, at least 500 people have died outside mainland China, which makes it the worst disease outbreak of the 21st century. Italy, Iran and South Korea are the most affected countries outside China, where 233, 145 and 4 people have died respectively as of March 6.

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Lead Image Credit: PTI