Cases of the novel coronavirus (2019 n-CoV) outbreak continue to surge, with the world’s youngest 2019 n-CoV patient being reported as an infant born earlier this month in China’s Hubei province’s capital city Wuhan – the epidemic’s epicentre.
At the time of writing, the death toll in China due to 2019 n-CoV has reached 563. As of Wednesday this week, confirmed cases number at 28,018 in addition to 24,702 suspected cases. 186,354 people are under medical surveillance, whilst 1,153 have been cured of the virus.
2019 n-CoV has spread globally, including to India where three cases have been confirmed in the state of Kerala. All three cases were of students who were studying in Wuhan and had been repatriated. More than 600 Indians were evacuated from Wuhan following the outbreak of 2019 n-CoV. The three confirmed novel coronavirus patients in Kerala are reported to be in stable condition.
Currently, more than 741 tests for the 2019 n-CoV have been conducted in India. Of these, 738 have reported negative. Across India, 5,123 are under home surveillance for novel coronavirus. This includes 1,999 in Kerala.
Screening is underway in multiple Indian airports. As of February 3rd, more than 11,000 people had been screened at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Maharashtra state capital Mumbai alone. As well as Mumbai, screening is being conducted at airports in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Trichy, Trivandrum, Varanasi, and Vizag, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported at the close of January.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the 2019 n-CoV situation, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan earlier reported. He has also confirmed that he is in regular contact with Kerala state health minister K. K. Shailaja concerning the situation and also chaired the first meeting of a group of ministers established at Modi’s direction concerning the crisis.