Coronavirus: 104 test negative at ITBP facility

The patient’s aged between 23 - 42 years have a history of recent return from Coronavirus hit China.
The previously unknown, pneumonia-like virus has killed at least 300 people. (Photo | AP)
The previously unknown, pneumonia-like virus has killed at least 300 people. (Photo | AP)

NEW DELHI: A total of 104 people kept at an ITBP facility here have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, while results for over 300 inmates are awaited, a force spokesperson said on Wednesday.
As many as 406 people have been quarantined at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility in Delhi’s Chhawla area since last week after they were brought in two batches from Wuhan in China onboard separate Air India flights.

“Samples of all the people being hosted at our facility were taken. 104 samples have been found negative for coronavirus infection, while the report for the rest 302 people is awaited,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said. Seven people from this group kept at the ITBP centre have been shifted to Safdarjung and AIIMS hospitals over the last two days as a precautionary measure and there condition is not linked to the virus infection, he added.

The ITBP facility in the Chhawla area also has seven Maldivians and one Bangaldeshi. Meanwhile, five more individuals suspected of carrying the novel Coronavirus were admitted at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the national capital, senior hospital authorities said on Wednesday. The patient’s aged between 23 - 42 years have a history of recent return from Coronavirus hit China. Of the five admitted, one is a female student. While one suspect was in China for 3 months, two were staying there for more than one year. All five returned to India between January 27 and February 3. Currently, 12 suspected patients are admitted at the RML Hospital whose reports are yet to come in. 

Govt issues advisory 
The Delhi government issued a health advisory on novel coronavirus on Wednesday. It asked people to clean hands with soap or alcohol-based hand rub; cover nose and mouth while coughing and sneezing, among other directives. 

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