Coronavirus in Delhi: Isolation wards to come up in 25 hospitals for COVID-19 cases

In the wake of rising cases of novel coronavirus in National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi government on Tuesday reviewed preventive steps and measures taken for management of COVID-19 cases in New Delhi. The state government is readying isolation wards in 25 hospitals for the treatment the suspected cases of a novel coronavirus if detected in Delhi and other places.

After a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Kumar Jain assured that government is taking all possible steps to keep Delhi safe and isolation wards are being readied in 25 hospitals. Jain further said that 3.5 lakh N95 masks have been arranged. We have over 8,000 separation kits for staff treating coronavirus patients, he added.

The novel coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan in December, has since then spread to various cities around the world. On Monday, two more cases of coronavirus were detected in New Delhi and Telangana, taking the overall count to five in the country. The patients had travelled to Italy and Dubai before they were tested positive.

By Tuesday evening, a new case was reported from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The patient, an Italian tourist, was tested positive for novel coranavirus, Union health ministry sources said today. Apart from this, two schools have been closed in Noida over the threat of coronavirus.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged people not to panic owing to new coronavirus cases reported from cities across India. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "There is no need to panic. We need to work together, take small yet important measures to ensure self-protection. Had an extensive review regarding preparedness on the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. Different ministries & states are working together, from screening people arriving in India to providing prompt medical attention."

The Union Health Ministry also issued a fresh travel advisroy. The government has decided to cancel all visa/eVisa that had been granted to nationals from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan on or before March 3.

The central government held an emergency meeting of the Group of Ministers formed to monitor the coronavirus outbreak on Monday.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that 5,57,431 passengers had been screened at the airports, and 12,431 at the seaports. Passengers are further monitored under community surveillance through IDSP network on a daily basis. Also, 25,738 passengers are under community surveillance of the IDSP network. 15 labs are functional and 19 more will be made operational soon, he added.

By Chitranjan Kumar with PTI inputs

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