Man admitted in MP hospital for suspected coronavirus

A man, who recently returned from China, was on Thursday admitted in a hospital here in Madhya Pradesh for suspected coronavirus infection, said a health department official.

Chief Medical and Health Officer Mridul Saxena said the man visited the OPD of Murar District Hospital with symptoms of cough and cold.

When doctors enquired further, the man told them he had returned from China, from where the novel coronavirus outbreak has been reported, just a week back.

In the evening, he was admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital attached to the goverment-run G R Medical College, Saxena said.

His samples are being sent to Pune's National Institute of Virology for analysis, he added.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus that has killed people in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties, according to the WHO.