A middle-aged person from Bengaluru, who returned from Wuhan city in China on January 19, has been kept under observation at the State-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV), which has infected a large number of people in China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and the United States.
This is the first suspected case of the virus in Karnataka. The man’s samples (blood and throat swab) have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Although State health officials say they have learnt “unofficially” from the NIV that the result was negative, an official communication is awaited.
Apart from this person, two others from Bengaluru who returned from a trip to Beijing and Wuhan, apart from four Chinese nationals who are on a business trip to Bengaluru, have also been isolated. While the two from Bengaluru have been isolated in their homes, the Chinese nationals are in a hotel. Although all six people are asymptomatic as of now, they are being tracked on a daily basis.
B.G. Prakash Kumar, State Joint Director (Communicable Diseases), told The Hindu that the person quarantined at RGICD was found to have cough and cold a day after his return. “This person returned on January 19 and when our officials visited his house, they found him having cough and cold. As he had not gone out of his house since returning, only his family members are being tracked for symptoms.”
“Although the NIV has communicated to us unofficially that his samples of are negative, we are waiting for the official communication,” Dr. Kumar said.
As per the standard operating procedure, isolated passengers, even if asymptomatic, will be kept under observation for 28 days. Mandatory thermal screening of all passengers who travelled from Chinese cities, apart from Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, is being done at Kempegowda International Airport.
Dr. Kumar said the Health Department would continue to isolate passengers arriving from mainland China over the next few days. The department has also identified a 10-bed isolation ward at RGICD in Bengaluru and Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru.
The coronavirus is a large family of viruses causing illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain not seen before.
