Three cases of suspected coronavirus were reported in Amritsar and Patiala on Wednesday, with the patients in question having flown to India via China recently.
A woman and her daughter, who flew back to India from New Zealand via China, were admitted to the isolation ward of the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH), Amritsar.
Civil surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal said, “The woman and her daughter were fine at the time of their screening at the international airport in New Delhi. But they complained of throat infection when they took further flight to Amritsar and arrived at the Shri Guru Ram Das Jee international airport.”
“We have sent their samples to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for testing and their reports are expected to arrive on Thursday,” said Dr Johal.
She further added, “We are keeping these patients under observation. Also, we are keeping close watch on those who arrive at the Amritsar airport from other countries.”
In a second suspected case of coronavirus in Patiala, a 36-year-old resident of Fatehgarh Sahib district was admitted to the Government Medical College on Wednesday.
He was put under observation at hospital and an isolation ward was set up for him.
{{/usCountry}}He was put under observation at hospital and an isolation ward was set up for him.
{{/usCountry}}GMC medical superintendent Dr Paras Pandav said the patient was referred from Fatehgarh Sahib after he was diagnosed with high fever after his visit to China.
“We have collected the blood samples and sent these for testing at Pune. We came to know that he traveled to China, Thailand and Singapore in January,” he said.
“We have asked the health department officials to sanitise the patient’s surroundings to ensure that no other person gets infected by the suspected virus. Since high fever is one of the key symptoms, we are taking every precautionary measure. We have restricted the entry of outsiders to the ward, except doctors and paramedics,” Dr Pandav added.