Coronavirus: Central team reviews preparedness in Odisha; 26

A central team on Thursday reviewed Odisha's preparedness to deal with novel coronavirus, as two persons have been quarantined in a hospital and 26 others under home surveillance in the state with suspected nCov cases, officials said here.

The state government has sent blood and swab samples of seven suspected coronavirus patients to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for examination and five of them have tested negative, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Prof CBK Mohanty said.

Reports are awaited for the other two cases.

Mohanty accompanied the three-member team of the Ministry of Health that visited the SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack where two persons have been admitted at the isolation ward with suspected nCoV cases.

The central team headed by Dr Shikha Vardhan, deputy director of the Centre for Environmental & Occupational Health of National Centre for Disease Control, was also accompanied by the state's Regional Director, Public Health, Susant Kumar Kar.

"The central team has expressed satisfaction over the precautionary measures taken by the state government," Mohanty said adding that there was no confirmed case of novel coronavius in Odisha so far.

The special ward for nCoV cases in the SCBMCH presently has two patients -- a woman medico who had returned from Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus disease in China, and a man who had come from Hongkong.

Their swab and blood samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune, and the report is yet to come, said B N Moharana, the emergency officer of the medical college.

"Of the total seven blood and swab samples sent to the NIV, five have tested negative to the dieases," Mohanty said.

He said a male medical student, who came from China, has been discharged from the SCBMCH after his blood sample tested negative to the disease.

Prof Mohanty said so far a total of 33 persons have returned to Odisha from nCoV affected countries. Of them, five have tested negative to the disease and reports are awaited for the other two.

The remaining 26 persons are presently under home surveillance, he said adding that state health officials are in regular touch with them and advised them to immediately contact the department if they develop any symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Apart from 84 beds at the SCBMCH, the state government has opened isolation wards with at least five beds in each district headquarters hospital.