Published 15:34 IST, March 20th 2020
West Bengal government appeals people returning from abroad to home-quarantine
The Health & Family Welfare Department of West Bengal Govt appealed to citizens, who have recently returned from abroad, to undergo home quarantine for 14 days
The Health and Family Welfare Department of West Bengal Government on Friday appealed to citizens, who have recently returned from abroad, to undergo home quarantine for 14 days. The appeal was made after two positive cases of Coronavirus were reported in the State on Friday.
"The government urged all persons who have recently returned from foreign nations, especially the UK, the USA, Europe, and the Gulf countries to necessarily confine themselves in quarantine at home for a period of 14 days," it said.
The West Bengal government also advised that social distancing measures were crucial for containing the spread of the virus.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has risen to 217.
A second case reported in West Bengal
The state of West Bengal on Friday reported its second positive Coronavirus case. A Kolkata resident with a travel history to the United Kingdom has tested positive for COVID-19. According to the state government officials, the 22-year-old boy was in-home quarantine since March 13 but showed no symptoms earlier.
Since March 16, he was admitted to the Beleghata ID&BG hospital after he showed symptoms. All his family members have been asked to remain in-home quarantine. Two of his friends who had returned with him from the UK - one from Punjab and one from Chhatisgarh have also tested positive for Coronavirus.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in the state on March 17. A young man with a travel history to London had tested positive for the virus and is receiving treatment at the IB hospital in Kolkata.
Thirty people home-quarantined in Nadia
Thirty persons who recently returned to West Bengal's Nadia district from Ajmer in Rajasthan and other places were home quarantined on Thursday, officials said.
The 30 persons, hailing from various gram panchayat areas in the Haringhata block, were placed under home isolation as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of novel Coronavirus, BDO Krishna Gopal Dhara said. Meanwhile, district health officials said 31 more persons have been detected who came in contact with the father of the lone COVID-19 patient in the state and home quarantined.
With this, a total of 38 people who came in contact with the COVID-19 patient's father, a doctor by profession, have been put in home isolation in Nadia district, they said.
(with inputs from ANI)
Updated 15:34 IST, March 20th 2020