Himachal Pradesh: 3 suspected cases of Coronavirus found in State says CM Jairam Thakur

Three suspected cases of coronavirus have been found in the state on Wednesday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said.  "Among the three cases, the two people under observation in the Tanda Medical College in Kangra had returned from Italy. The third person, who came back from South Korea, is under observation in Indian Gandhi Medical college at Shimla," Thakur informed.

READ | J&k to set up data collection centres for tourists from Coronavirus-affected countries

READ | Intel quarantines Bengaluru employee amid 'potential exposure' to Coronavirus; lists steps

 CM Thakur also said that isolation wards have been set up in both the hospitals. A meeting will be conducted by the state government to identified three more hospitals if there is a rise in COVID-19 suspect cases.

READ | Hyderabad gears up ahead of Coronavirus outbreak

"Today we will be having a meeting to identify three hospitals which will be used if there is an increase in the suspected cases or if a positive of coronavirus," he said.

Refuting to the allegation made by the Congress leader Ramlal Thakur, Himachal Pradesh CM said: "The patient had to wait for only a few minutes as the hospital needed time to prepare the isolation ward." The Congress leader had alleged that a patient transferred from Bilaspur had to wait for an hour as the hospital was not ready to with coronavirus patient.

The Chief Minister also said that the government will take special precautionary measures as it shares a border with Nepal. He also said that the precautionary measure will also be taken in areas such as Dharamshala where there is the maximum influx of tourists from Tibet.

"However, the public need not panic as not many coronavirus cases have been reported in Nepal," he said.

Coronavirus outbreak

According to the latest reports, 42 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll to over 3,000. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan (the epicentre of the outbreak), other countries including Iran, Italy, Japan and the Philippines have also reported deaths related to novel coronavirus.

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19. 

READ | Netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt 'Namaste' to greet amid Coronavirus scare

(With inputs from ANI)