SECOND CORONAVIRUS CASE IN INDIA; 323 MORE EVACUATED
India on Sunday reported its second coronavirus case, with another student, who had returned to Kerala from Wuhan, testing positive. As many as 323 more Indians and seven Maldivians were brought back by air from the Chinese city, the epicentre of the outbreak, taking the number of evacuees to 654. The government also announced a temporary suspension of the e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in the neighbouring country.
The government on Sunday issued a new travel advisory asking people to refrain from travelling to China in view of the coronavirus outbreak in its Hubei province. In its advisory, the health ministry also said anyone with travel history to China since January 15 could be quarantined.
India on Sunday reported a second case of coronavirus. The individual, had returned from China recently. “The patient has tested positive for the virus and has been kept in isolation in a hospital. The person is stable and is being closely monitored,” a government statement said.
Meanwhile, one patient has been tested negative in Haryana, and reports of four others are awaited in Chandigarh.
China ramped up measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic as the first death from the illness was reported outside the country in the Philippines .
Some 304 people have died in China, the countr y ’s National Health
Commission said on Sunday. Beijing is facing mounting isolation as countries introduce travel restrictions and airlines suspend flights, risking worsening a slowdown.
India on Sunday temporarily suspended the e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China.
China’s central bank said it would inject a hefty 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.8 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations on Monday, as the country prepares to reopen its stock markets.
China has also taken steps to limit short- selling activities, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
In the US, the White House National Economic Council and the Council of Economic Advisers are analysing the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the US economy, the Washington Post reported.
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an order temporarily barring entry to foreigners who had visited
China. According to reports, the US has offered to help China contain the epidemic.
However, Beijing has still not responded to US offers of help from the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and other health professionals, according to the White House national security adviser Robert O’brien.
“We’ve got tremendous expertise. This is a worldwide concern. We want to help our Chinese colleagues if we can
and we’ve made the offer and we'll see if they accept the offer.”
While they have not been invited into China, CDC officials are in neighboring Kazakhstan to help guard against spread of the virus, US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said on Sunday during a visit there.
“You’ve got a long border with China which is where this disease has emanated from,” Pompeo said in an interview with a Kazakh journalist.