Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday reviewed the status of preparedness regarding coronavirus with senior officers of his ministry.
Speaking to ANI, he urged people not to create panic and said that the thermal screening facility will be extended to 20 airports to detect the virus.
"We are in contact with Chinese authorities to bring back Indians from China. Once they are brought back they will be kept in quarantine for 2 weeks and necessary medical facilities will be provided to them," Harsh Vardhan said.
"Every passenger coming from China is being screened at seven big airports. If we find any symptoms in anyone, we isolate that person. We are extending the thermal screening facility to 20 airports," he said.
Besides NIV Pune, four labs have been activated for testing of samples.
"Update on Novel #Coronavirus: Four labs of @ICMRDELHI's Viral Research & Diagnostics Lab Network (at Alleppey, Bengaluru, Hyderabad & Mumbai) activated for testing samples.This is in addition to @icmr_niv,Pune," the Ministry of Health tweeted.
In the wake of the virus outbreak, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened till Monday.
The virus for which there is no effective vaccine was reported on January 16 in Japan, the first case outside China and its territories.
The death toll from novel coronavirus in China skyrocketed to 106 on Tuesday.
Coronaviruses (nCoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.
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