2 quarantined in Mumbai over coronavirus fears

January 24, 2020 14:36

Two Indians who travelled to Mumbai from China have been kept in an isolation ward at Kasturba Hospital, and their blood samples have been collected to check for the new strain of coronavirus.

At least 1,739 passengers flying in from China have been screened at Mumbai airport. At least six of these passengers (three from Mumbai and three from Pune) were arriving from coronavirus-affected regions in China. Of them, two, a resident of Nallasopara and another from Kalyan, showed mild cough and cold symptoms.

The female traveller landed in the city on January 22 after stayed in China for a week in Foshan city. The other passenger, a male Kalyan resident, also landed on the same day after visiting Guangzhou. Both were shifted to Kasturba hospital as a precautionary measure and quarantined.

Their blood samples were collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test. State health officials will keep them under observation for 28 days.

They are stable, only cough persist. Once the cough subsides we will discharge them and continue to monitor their heath. We cant keep them for 28 days in hospital, said Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Neither China nor the World Health Organization (WHO) has transmission period for this virus. Usually, it takes only few days for symptoms to surface in respiratory infection. We are observing the case for double the period, in this case, 28 days. It will provide a sufficient window to detect any symptoms, said state epidemiologist Dr Pradeep Awate.

Called the Novel Coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, this is a new strain of coronavirus that reported an outbreak from Huanan sea food market in Wuhan city in December 2019. The WHO office in China was informed about pneumonia cases due to unknown causes on December 31, 2019.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

LSG, KKR in battle to cement berth in IPL play-offs

With a dominant 24 runs victory over Mumbai Indians propelling second-placed KKR to 14 points and a step closer to qualification for the play-offs, the pressure is on KL Rahul's LSG to find a way past the threat that Shreyas Iyer's side...

What's A Chopper Doing Over Parliament?

On Friday, May 3, 2024, the National Security Guard and the Delhi police conducted a security mock drill at the Parliament building. The primary objective of the drill was to assess and synchronise the readiness of the security forces to...

Does Young India Care About Elections 2024?

Politics is not on the radar of 18 to 21-year-old Indians, reveals Rama Bijapurkar.

Did Venky Outshine SKY?

Don't forget Manish Pandey's gritty innings.

Consistency the key for Tanisha-Ashwini at Olympics

Young shuttler Tanisha Crasto believes she and doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa have the game to match the world's best.