In Bengal, search for others who travelled with Coronavirus-hit Kerala student begins

HT found that at least two passengers who landed in Kolkata on the night of January 30 from other cities in China were roaming freely although they are supposed to stay in isolation at home. The Centre has said that this isolation should be for at least 14 days.

The West Bengal government has initiated a search to track down four co-passengers of the Coronavirus-affected Kerala student who arrived at the NSCBI airport in Kolkata on January 23 in a flight from China. Out of six people from Bengal, who were in that flight only two could be contacted by the government while the phones of the rest four were found to be switched off till Saturday evening.

HT spoke to two medical students, one from Bengal and another from Odisha, who landed on January 30 along with dozens of others. All of them were screened with thermal scanners and made to sign a form in which they had to declare their addresses and phone numbers. (Image used for representation). (HT PHOTO.)

The woman from Thrissur in Kerala is a medical student at a university in Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak. She left Wuhan and boarded a flight from Kunming. This is the first confirmed case of the novel Coronavirus infection in India.

While search for her four co-passengers were on, HT found that at least two passengers who landed in Kolkata on the night of January 30 from other cities in China were roaming freely although they are supposed to stay in isolation at home. The centre has said that this isolation should be for at least 14 days.

“At least six passengers on the flight in which the Thrissur woman was flying, hail from Bengal. The rest are from other states. We have been able to contact two passengers. We are yet to track the other four. Their phones are switched off. We are trying to contact them. The union health ministry has been informed,” said Ajoy Chakraborty, director of health services, West Bengal.

HT spoke to two medical students, one from Bengal and another from Odisha, who landed on January 30 along with dozens of others. All of them were screened with thermal scanners and made to sign a form in which they had to declare their addresses and phone numbers. The last line of the form says that the signatory has to stay in isolation at home.

Both the students said that they were leading a normal life as they did not see symptoms of the infection, such as fever and respiratory problem.

“I was scanned with the thermal scanner and asked to fill up a form. I was then allowed to leave the airport. I don’t have any symptoms hence I don’t think there is a need to stay indoors,” said a 22-year-old a final-year medical student from Shangdong First Medical University. The youth, who hails from Odisha, has put up in a hotel near the NSCBI airport. He is scheduled to leave for Odisha on Saturday night.

On January 30, the union government issued a statement saying those who have come from China after January 15 have to undergo tests as there is an incubation period for the virus. The statement said that the cabinet secretary stressed upon the need for home isolation of 14 days for all those who have returned from China.

“I was not asked to undergo any tests apart from the thermal scan. The form, which I was asked to fill up had questions such as which cities in China I had visited, whether I went to Wuhan city in Hubei province in the last 14 days, if I indeed went there then how long did I stay and whether I visited any seafood market? I also had to say if I had any of the symptoms,” said the other youth who is a fourth-year medical student from Zhengzhou University. He said that he is meeting his family members and friends. This youth is from one of the south Bengal districts of West Bengal.

HT is withholding the names of both students.

The form both students had to fill up says that in case a passenger shows any of the symptoms within 28 days he/she should contact the union home ministry on the helpline.

“All passengers need not be kept in quarantine. It applies only to those who have the symptoms. The rest need to be kept in isolation at home. They have been told to confine themselves at home,” said Chakraborty.

The Kolkata Port Trust screened around 170 officers and crew members of seven foreign ships at the Kolkata dock and Haldia dock on January 31. None was detected with symptoms of the infection, said the authorities in a statement.