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India wakes to coronavirus outbreak in China
The Union Health Ministry has issued a travel advisory to passengers visiting or coming back from China. This comes in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the neighbouring Asian nation.
Hyderabad: The Union Health Ministry has issued a travel advisory to passengers visiting or coming back from China. This comes in the wake of coronavirus outbreak in the neighbouring Asian nation.
As per data till January 11, 41 confirmed cases have been reported with one death. Only travel-related cases have been reported (one each) in Thailand and Japan. The clinical signs and symptoms are mainly fever with a few patients having difficulty in breathing.
When contacted, the officials of Telangana Health department pointed out that the Centre's advisory puts onus on various airports in the country to screen passengers coming from China and if any of them are found to have fever, cough like symptoms then necessary precautions have to be taken.
"The airport authorities have to take sample of the suspected case and send it to a laboratory for investigations. If found positive to the virus then they should be kept at the airport facility for two weeks for treatment purpose," officials said.
The role of the state Health department will come into play if and when any positive case is found, authorities said, adding that they will, however, sent the advisory to all DMHOs to keep an eye once an official communication is received from the Union ministry.
Dr M Anuradha, Senior Regional Director for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, stated that passengers screening was not taking place in Shamshabad airport since there are no direct flights from China to Hyderabad "Screening of passengers coming from China is being done in a few cities like New Delhi that have direct flights from China.
Necessary precautions are being taken by airport authorities there," she added. When asked what if a passenger from Telangana or Andhra Pradesh getting down at New Delhi clears the screening test initially but falls ill after one to two weeks after returning home to his native place, the senior official said the patient concerned must report his illness to the nearest health facility and also alert the treating doctor about the travel history.
When contacted, GMR airport authorities stated that no screenings are being done as there are no direct flights linking Hyderabad and any of the China cities.
