Coronavirus: Raj health officials told to screen people who came in contact with Italian tourist

Rajasthan Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma on Tuesday instructed health officials to screen all those people who had come in contact with the Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus.

Asking to step up vigil, the minister also asked officials to send a rapid response team of the Medical Education and Health Department to the places visited by the patient, along with 19 others from Italy.

The team, including senior professors and epidemiologists, will inspect hotels and excursions in Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Mandawa (Jhunjhunu) and Jaisalmer.

Jaipur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Narottam Sharma said the room where the 69-year-old tourist stayed has been locked.

"The room will be disinfected as per the procedure. The hotel authorities will be able to use it only after it is properly disinfected," Sharma said, adding that samples of the four staffers who were in touch with the tourist have also been collected for testing.

The Italian tourist was tested positive for coronavirus following a test conducted at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Hospital.

An earlier test conducted at the same government hospital had, however, cleared the man of the virus.

Since the two reports were contradictory, the SMS Hospital sent his swab sample to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, which on Tuesday confirmed that he was infected with the virus.