Telangana Health officials have started gathering information about people who have returned to the State from China after January 15 so that they can collect samples to test for novel coronavirus (nCoV), regardless of whether they have any symptom or not.
Earlier, samples to test for the virus was collected only from people who had travel history to China and had symptoms such as cold, cough, fever and others.
On Thursday, Ministry of Health stated that all those who returned from China after January 15, 2020 should be tested for nCoV.
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State Director of Public Health G Srinivas Rao has appealed all those who have returned from China after January 15 to call State Control room number 040-24651119 to give information on where can they give samples for tests, if they had not given samples earlier. Till date, no one admitted to State government hospitals has tested positive for nCoV.
Two more samples sent from Hyderabad to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune tested negative for nCoV. Three more people were admitted at Isolation Wards of Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases (Fever Hospital), Nallakunta, on Saturday. Their samples too would be sent for tests.
Meanwhile, Gandhi Hospital may start tests for nCoV from Monday. After a test run was conducted on Friday, results were sent to NIV and the officials are awaiting the Pune institute’s approval to start tests.
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Till date, only passengers coming from China and Hong Kong were screened using thermal scanners or thermal guns. If any one’s body temperature was found high, they were asked about their travel history and nCoV symptoms if any. Health officials said that this screening would be extended to those coming from Singapore and Thailand also.