Indian in Saudi infected with coronavirus: Govt

25 students back from colleges in Wuhan under close watch

NEW DELHI/BEIJING: At least 25 students who have returned from colleges in Wuhan to their homes in India are under close watch for symptoms of a deadly new virus that has triggered a global health alarm, officials said on Thursday as authorities around the world stepped up efforts to avert a wider contagion.

Known till now only as the novel coronavirus, the pathogen is believed to have begun spreading to humans from a meat market in Wuhan, a city in central China, which on Thursday became one of five in the country to be put under an unprecedented lockdown.

“We are in touch with the Indian embassy in China and getting details of passengers [travelling from China] on a daily basis. While close to 1,200 students might be studying there (Wuhan) as per our information, so far 25 students who have recently come back to India from the outbreak city have been identified. All of them are being closely monitored. None of the students is symptomatic,” said a senior health ministry official who asked not to be named.

The virus, which has killed 18 people and has infected at least 600 others in China alone, has reached as far as the United States and is feared it will spread further with millions of Chinese and expats based in China expected to travel over the coming lunar new year holidays.

Most Indian students are believed to have begun travelling back home and elsewhere since January 10, days before concerns

about the outbreak forced airports across the world to screen and isolate suspected patients in order to curb the spread. India began the screening at some airports on Friday before expanding it to all airports handling flights from Chinese cities on Monday.

“Their details have been shared with district-level officers; we even have their mobile numbers. They are being counselled and under close watch,” said the health ministry official.

Health officials had approached the ministry of external affairs and Indian embassies in China for details of students who may be in the affected region -- information that seemed to not have been readily available.

According to people familiar with developments, one of the biggest problems is that many of the 23,000-odd Indian students in China aren’t registered with the embassy in Beijing.