Coronavirus: Six persons under observation in Mumbai and Pune

A man was hospitalised in Pune on suspicion of possible exposure to the novel coronavirus during his recent visit to China, taking the total number of such admissions to six in Maharashtra so far, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The man was admitted in the isolation ward of the Naidu Hospital on Monday night for the symptoms similar to the novel coronavirus infection, Dr Pradeep Awate, Maharashtra state Disease Surveillance Officer, told PTI.

"The number of the persons under observation in hospitals in Maharashtra has now gone up to six," he said.

Four of the six persons are currently under observation in Mumbai while two in Pune, Dr Awate said.

He said blood samples of none of them has tested positive to the virus so far.

No case of coronavirus infection has been found in Maharashtra yet.

A Health department official had said on Monday that the Maharashtra government will prepare a list of passengers who have returned to Mumbai from China, especially from the Wuhan region, since January 1 this year, and will enquire about their health condition.

As many as 3,756 passengers arriving from China were screened for the coronavirus at the Mumbai international airport between January 18 and 26, but no confirmed case of the deadly disease has been found so far in Mumbai.

Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has so far killed 80 people and affected 2,744 in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

It has emerged from a seafood and animal market in China's Wuhan, and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States.

According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.