Following the outbreak of Coronavirus in China, four people who traveled from the country to Hyderabad have gotten themselves admitted to the Nallakunta Fever Hospital (Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases).
According to hospital authorities, the four individuals hail from Telangana and had gone on a trip to China earlier this month. Following the outbreak and the issued health advisories, they decided to admit themselves to the hospital and get screened.
"On Saturday we have admitted one person , the samples which were sent to Pune - National Institute of Virology (NIV). Three others were admitted on Sunday without symptoms given their travel history,” said Dr K Shankar, superintendent of the hospital to TNM.
He further noted that the samples of two of the individuals returned negative and they were sent home. The other individuals continue to remain in the isolation ward at the hospital and are under observation. Earlier last week another suspected case was sent home after tests came back negative.
In the meantime, an expert team of doctors from Delhi AIIMS is expected to make a visit to the fever hospital to further assess the situation. Officials have directed the Nallakunta Fever Hospital, Gandhi Hospital and a few others to arrange for special isolation wards to oversee any potential cases of coronavirus.
The virus is currently assumed to be transmitted to individuals via close contact with an infected person. However new reports are showing that the virus may be spread from carriers who might not be showing any signs of an infection themselves, but are hosts to the virus. The most common symptoms of an infection are fever, cough, cold and runny nose. Breathing difficulties may be seen in more severe cases.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also accelerated its efforts to prevent the disease from entering India and given directions across the country.
As per Chinese health authorities, there are over 2,000 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by coronavirus in China, including 461 in critical condition. A total of 5,794 suspected cases have also been reported. So far 80 deaths caused by the deadly virus have been reported in China.