E-Paper
Two suspected of coronavirus at Chandigarh PGI, 31 home quarantined in city
Blood samples of the two sent to AIIMS Delhi, report by Wednesday
Two suspected cases of Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have been reported at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research on Tuesday. “Two men, both aged 29 years have been quarantined in the isolation ward of the institute,” said PGIMER spokesperson Dr Ashok Kumar .
Doctors at the institute said that a Sector-50 resident, with a history of travel to Indonesia and Singapore last week with his family, had reported sick at the institute with initial symptoms of COVID-19. Similarly, the second person, a Sector-29 resident, has a travel history to Bali. Doctors said that in both suspected cases, the patients are stable and under constant monitoring.
Since Coronavirus was first identified in December last year, in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread across 73 countries and territories, with more than 90,000 cases reported worldwide as of Monday evening.
Even as medical workers are furiously battling the disease, 172 deaths have been reported outside mainland China, raising the global death toll to 3,115. Excluding mainland China, the most severe outbreaks are in South Korea (5,186 cases, 29 deaths), Iran (1,501 cases, 66 deaths) and Italy (2,036 cases, 52 deaths).
The WHO has warned that in the near future it could classify the incident as a global pandemic.
In India, a total of six confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported till now. Three residents of Kerala, all of whom had returned from Wuhan, had tested positive and were put under isolation. They were treated in Kerala hospitals and by February 20, all of them were discharged. On Monday, two fresh cases were reported, with the first being a 45-year old Delhi man who returned from Europe, and the second, a 26-year-old software engineer from Hyderabad who had returned from Dubai. On Tuesday, a 69-year-old Italian tourist admitted to a hospital in Jaipur tested positive for COVID 19.
For the two suspected cases in Chandigarh, hospital sources said their blood samples have sent to Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences for tests and reports are expected in the next 24 hours. The line of treatment will depend on the reports.
Meanwhile, in an advisory, the PGIMER has said that in view of the increased number of suspected and confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the country, it is advised that such patients should be managed in a local health care facility designated in their respective state for containment and standard treatment by following isolation precautions for aerosol diseases.
“The samples for testing may be sent to designated labs in AIIMS, New Delhi. It has further been advised that people should not panic and simple washing of hands with soap and water can curtail the spread of the virus. There is no recommendation for the general public to use a mask. Non-essential travel to countries reporting active cases of COVID 19 should be avoided,” reads the advisory.
The director health and family welfare, Dr GS Dewan has written to senior superintendent of police(SSP) asking the police department to cooperate and make audio announcements regarding Corona virus at traffic points in Chandigarh, through the public address system. The audio announcements are to be made from March 4 till March 31. The police top brass has given directions to all station house officers (SHO) to ensure public announcements are made at every point regularly starting from tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Chandigarh’s health administration has said that as many as 31 citizens from the city who have a travel history to affected nations have been quarantined at home.
Chandigarh’s state surveillance officer, Dr Upendrajeet Singh Gill, said that 31 persons have been home quarantined for 28 days and 5 people will have even completed the period on Wednesday. “Among foreign nationals, three have been quarantined in hotels here. A total of 17 foreign nationals were in the city and 14 have left in the last one month,” he added.
