A total of 406 people, who are housed at a quarantine facility of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) after being brought back from China due to the COVID-19 outbreak there, may be released next week if their final samples turn out to be negative, said officials on Saturday. The reports are expected to be received by Monday.
The final samples of all the people quarantined at the ITBP facility were collected by a team of doctors on Friday and the reports are expected to be received by Monday.
“Based on the reports, a decision will be taken to discharge the travellers, if agreed to by the authorities, which is expected to be done in next week observing laid down protocols and due medical procedures as per the directives of Health Ministry,” said Vivek Kumar Pandey, Public Relations Officer, ITBP.
A senior Home Ministry official said all of them will be released by next week if the final samples test negative.
A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the outbreak, on February 1 and 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft.
While 406 people, including seven from Maldives, are being looked after at the quarantine facility, the rest are housed at an Army centre at Manesar in Haryana.
The ITBP centre is being looked after by an expert team of doctors and medical professionals. There are seven children in the group, including an infant.
“No fresh symptoms have been seen today. Food, bed and other basic requirements are catered. Sufficient amount of medicines are also kept at the centre,” said Mr. Pandey.
The death toll in China’s novel coronavirus epidemic has climbed to 1,523 with 143 new fatalities reported mostly from the worst-affected Hubei province. The confirmed cases jumped to over 66,000, said health officials on Saturday.
India has so far reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala.
One of the three medical students, who had tested positive for novel coronavirus infection and were treated at a hospital in Kerala, has been discharged after recovery.
Passengers arriving in flights from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and South Korea are being screened for possible exposure to the respiratory virus at 21 identified airports in India.
