nCOV: Aligarh couple kept in isolationward after complaining of cough & cold

Agra: A couple from Aligarh, who returned from China’s Wuhan recently, has been kept in an isolation ward at a hospital, as a precautionary measure, after they complained of cold and cough.

According to doctors, a 31-year-old medical student, who is pursuing MBBS at Wuhan, was staying there with his wife. They returned to India last month. And no symptoms were found during screening for

novel coronavirus

(2019-nCOV). However, on Friday, the couple informed health officials of cough and cold. Immediately, they were placed under quarantine by health officials.

Talking to TOI on Friday, Deen Dayal hospital’s chief medical superintendent (CMS), BK Gupta, said that their blood samples along with throat swabs have been collected and are being sent to Delhi’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for examination tomorrow. The report will be received in two days, he added.

India has so far reported three confirmed cases of nCOV from Kerala. All three are medical students from the state and were studying at the Wuhan University in China.

So far, 2,528 people have been put under quarantine at home, besides 557 samples from suspected cases across the country have been referred to ICMR network laboratories. Of these, 510 tested negative and three positive for nCoV.

According to health ministry, all 645 people evacuated from China’s Wuhan city, who were kept in isolation at Army Base and ITBP camps, tested negative for coronavirus so far. The ministry said that as of February 6, 1,38,750 passengers from 1,265 flights had been screened for coronavirus illness but no new case was detected.

Meanwhile, the government issued an updated travel advisory saying the existing visas (including e-visa already issued) are no longer valid for any foreign national travelling from China. The health ministry has asked people to refrain from travelling to the neighbouring country in view of the coronavirus outbreak in its Hubei province and said travellers on return could be quarantined.

According to reports, so far, the deadly virus has spread to Thailand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Macau, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, United States, Canada, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Russia, Finland, Spain, the UAE and Sweden.