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Coronavirus: Health dept forms teams to track 382 persons who travelled to China
The district health department officials of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar have received information from the state officials about 382 persons, including 152 from
The district health department officials of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar have received information from the state officials about 382 persons, including 152 from Ghaziabad and another 230 from Gautam Budh Nagar, who had travelled to China during the past one month.
The officials said they are tracking the persons on the list and those contacted have been asked to remain in isolation in wake of the Coronavirus outbreak in China.
The Ghaziabad officials have formed 10 teams while the Gautam Budh Nagar officials have formed three teams to trace the persons who undertook a journey to China during the past one month, starting December 29, 2019.
“The list of 152 provided to us has addresses of those who had travelled to China in the past one month. There is some difficulty, but our teams are trying to get in touch with them. By Tuesday evening, our teams have been able to establish contact with 76 persons. Twenty-three of them are from outside districts but their passports have addresses of Ghaziabad. We have informed the other districts about the people,” Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer of Ghaziabad, said.
“Those put under surveillance have not shown any symptoms of fever, respiratory issues or cough.But we have been asked to restrict their movement and keep them in isolation at home for 28 days,” he said.
The Gautam Budh Nagar health department said it received a list of 190 such persons on Monday and another list of 40 persons on Tuesday.
“We have formed three teams and been able to establish contact with 35 persons so far. Those contacted have not shown any symptoms, but have been asked to remain in isolation for 28 days and take precautions. The teams are trying to get in touch with the rest of the people having a travel history to China,” Dr Anurag Bhargava, chief medical officer of Gautam Budh Nagar, said.
Apart from the figure of 152 persons, the Ghaziabad officials previously have a figure of another seven persons who had been on surveillance ever since they returned from China. They said a 27-year-old woman was tested but her results were negative for Coronavirus.
In December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was alerted after several cases of pneumonia were reported in China’s Wuhan City in Hubei province. The virus did not match any other known virus and was temporarily named, “2019-nCoV,” which is a family of viruses that include common cold and viruses such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
The doctors said it is important to maintain vigil, given the high population density of India.
“As per our records, we have a little more than 1,000 persons in UP, including those in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar, whoe have visited China over the past one month. None of them, so far, has tested positive for Coronavirus. As a precautionary measure, these persons have been asked to remain in isolation at home. Our teams are trying to get in touch with the others on the list,” Dr Vikasendu Agarwal, nodal officer for the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, Uttar Pradesh, said.
