E-Paper
Coronavirus scare: Eight put under watch in Kangra
Health minister Vipin Singh Parmar said the suspected patients had contacted authorities on the helpline number 114 upon returning from China.
Health authorities in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday put eight people who returned from China this week under observation to screen them for coronavirus.
The suspected patients are all residents of Kangra district. They have been quarantined in their homes for 14 days and have been told to avoid contact with their kin.
Health minister Vipin Singh Parmar said the suspected patients had contacted authorities on the helpline number 114 upon returning from China.
Currently, 179 people suspected of having contracted coronavirus are under observation in the state. Parmar said ninety-three of the 179 patients had completed the 28-day observation period and have been allowed to meet their kin: “They, however, will remain under watch for some more time along with the remaining 86 who are yet to complete the observation period,” he said.
The minister said that the state authorities were in regular contact with Union health ministry and all the preventive measures have been taken as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. Teams of doctors are examining these people on a daily bases, said Parmar.
Authorities have identified Dharamshala, McLeodganj, Palampur and Bir Village near Baijnath as vulnerable to a coronavirus outbreak as a large number of foreign tourists visit these centres.
McLeodganj, being the abode of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is visited by devotees from these all over the world, particularly China and South Asia.
Tourist visiting Dharamshala and surrounding areas have been told to fill up a form disclosing any health-related issues. Information disclosed by tourists will be kept confidential.
Foreign tourists, while registering themselves with the district police, will also have to submit a self-declaration of whether they have visited China or any other affected south-Asian country. The coronavirus scare has severely affected the tourism industry in Dharamshala as tourists have been cancelling their bookings.
