AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government has decided to open isolation ward in each of the 33 districts for treatment of any suspected novel coronavirus case, while 87 people, who recently returned from the virus-hit Iran, have been kept under observation, said officials on Tuesday.
The state government is taking precautionary steps after two new positive cases of the deadly infection came to light in the country, they said.
Moreover, 87 people, who had recently returned from Iran, where the deadly virus has claimed 77 lives so far, were kept under home quarantine, said Commissioner of Health, Jai Prakash Shivahare.
"As a precautionary measure, these 87 persons were kept under observation at their respective homes in different parts of the state.
"To tackle any emergency situation, we have decided to open one isolation ward in each of the district. At present, such wards have been set up in some civil hospitals," he said.
Screening of passengers at the airport here for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is also going on, Shivahare said. Six cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country so far. Three of the patients have recovered.
The coronavirus, which was first detected in China in late December, has has now spread to 60 nations in Europe, the US, Latin America and other parts of Asia.
More than 3,100 people have died, most of them in China, and over 90,000 have been infected worldwide by the virus.