654 EVACUATED FROM WUHAN VIRUS-FREE, TO BE DISCHARGED
Officials say all 654 people brought back from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city have tested negative for virus
NEW DELHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All 654 people, who were quarantined at facilities in Delhi-NCR after their evacuation from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, have tested negative for novel coronavirus that has killed more than 1,600 people and affected over 69,000 since its outbreak in China late last year.
The evacuees will be discharged in a phased manner beginning Monday, officials said. In Kerala, the second Indian student, out of the three who had returned from Wuhan and tested positive for the infection, was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after two consecutive tests showed full recovery, officials said.
NEW DELHI: All 654 people who were brought back from Wuhan have tested negative for novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the latest sample examination and will be discharged in a phased manner beginning Monday, said officials.
The evacuees were housed at two facilities; 406 at an Indo-Tibetan Border Police facility and the remaining at an army centre in Manesar, Haryana.
Union health secretary Preeti Sudan said, “All the evacuees from Wuhan under quarantine at the two isolation facilities in Manesar and Chhawla will be discharged tomorrow and day after.”
The final samples of the people quarantined at the ITBP facility were collected by a team of doctors on Friday. All the final coronavirus test reports have been found negative, an ITBP spokesperson said on Sunday.
They will be discharged in a phased manner based on the advisory issued by the ministry of health with due medical procedures and protocols, he said.
A health advisory has also been issued for the people if they come across any symptoms of coronavirus after 14 days of leaving the quarantine.
The group also includes seven Maldives citizens. There are seven children including an infant in the group.
The evacuees were brought back from Wuhan on February 1 and 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in China.
The death toll from Covid-19 outbreak in China has climbed to 1,665 after 142 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province, Chinese officials said on Sunday. There have been 68,500 cases so far in the neighbouring country.
Passengers arriving in flights from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and South Korea were being screened for possible exposure to the respiratory virus at 21 identified airports in India.
Passengers at 12 major and 65 minor seaports are also being screened. A central team will also monitor villages near the border in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Sikkim and West Bengal.
THE DEATH TOLL FROM COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN CHINA HAS CLIMBED TO 1,665 AFTER 142 MORE PEOPLE DIED, MOSTLY IN THE WORST-HIT HUBEI PROVINCE, CHINESE OFFICIALS SAID