Coronavirus: Chinese man hospitalized in Pune tests negative

Samples of three persons including a Chinese national who were quarantined here for possible exposure to the novel coronavirus have tested negative, a civic official said on Saturday.

The Chinese man, who is 31 years old, was admitted to the civic-run Naidu Hospital upon arrival in the city after he vomited on a Delhi-Pune flight on Friday morning.

He would have to remain at the hospital till February 11, said Dr Ramchandra Hankare, chief health officer, Pune Municipal Corporation.

"The samples, which were sent to the National Institute of Virology, tested negative," he said.

The samples of two other patients in the hospital's isolation ward also tested negative for the virus, he added.

The virus has claimed over 700 lives in China, and has spread to many other countries including India where three cases of infection have been detected in Kerala.