Six medical personel test SARS negative

Six medical personnel, who attended on India's first SARS patient in Mumbai, tested negative, Maharashtra health authorities said.

Six medical personnel, who attended on India's first SARS patient in Mumbai, tested negative even as 150 people have been quarantined on suspicion of having contacted the disease, Maharashtra health authorities said in Pune on Thursday.

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State Health Minister Digvijay Khanvilkar told reporters Pune that six staff members of Siddharth Hospital, whose blood report were received from National Institute of Virology, tested negative.

This came as a relief a day after nine other medical personnel of the hospital had tested positive for the Severe Acute Respiratory Symptom on Wednesday.

Khanvilkar said 70 people, including relatives of doctors of Siddhath Hospital, are under observation and their condition is being monitored by a team of six doctors.

Those from Sidharth Hospital, who tested negative will be shifted to Aundh Hospital where they will be kept in isolation for some more days. If their report indicates normalcy, they will be discharged, he added.

Director of Health, Pune, P Gaikwad said a total of 150 people have been quarantined.

He said all hospitals in Pune are provided with special masks and the state was geared to tackle the SARS problem very well.

He appealed to the people not to press the panic button as the situation was "well under control."