Coronavirus: One person under observation in Maharashtra, 52,000 screened

Only one person suspected of being affected by the novel coronavirus has been kept under observation at an isolation ward in Maharashtra, while over 52,000 travellers have been screened at the airport here for the disease till now, the health department said on Tuesday.

The lone patient has been kept under observation at an isolation facility in Pune-based Naidu Hospital, it said.

Until now, 87 travellers were admitted at various isolation facilities in the state after they showed symptoms of the viral infection (officially called COVID-19), whose outbreak was first reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December-end.

Of these, 86 people have been already discharged, said the department.

No positive case of the infection has been reported in the state till now.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope said they have provided more manpower for screening of the travellers arriving at the Mumbai international airport from nine countries from where COVID-19 cases have been reported.

"Since travellers from nine countries, including China, are being screened at the international airport, the health department and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation have made available additional personnel," Tope said.

According to the health department, they have till now screened 52,229 travellers who landed at the airport from 425 international flights arriving from the coronavirus-hit countries, including China, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

The screening at the airport started on January 18, more than a fortnight after the outbreak of the disease in China.

The state government is also conducting a field survey of the people arriving in the state from COVID-19-affected areas and until now they have found 297 such people, it said.

According to the department, it has been keeping track of these people for 14 days (the incubation period of the virus) as per the Union government's guidelines.

Also, as many as 221 of these 297 people have completed the 14-day follow-up period, it added.

COVID-19 symptoms, which may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure to the virus, include fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.