Coronavirus outbreak: 2,782 from Delhi who visited China after January 15 identified

NEW DELHI: As many as 2,782 people from Delhi travelled to China on or after January 15 when the outbreak caused by the coronavirus was at its peak.

The immigration department has sent a list of all such people, in addition to around 70 tourists visiting Delhi from countries affected by the deadly virus, to the Delhi health department to trace them. Central Delhi has a maximum of 2071 such people, followed by south-east (280), east (169), north-west (118), south (64) and south-west (21).

As on Thursday, a government source told TOI, 144 people have been traced and efforts are on to find the rest in the next two days. “None of those traced has any symptom. But, as a precautionary measure, we have isolated them at their homes. Our team will be in touch with the families and flag any deterioration in health that may signal coronavirus infection,” said the officer leading the drive.

Virologists say the coronavirus is like SARS and MERS — two other viral infections that had caused outbreaks in the past. “A strict screening of people coming from affected areas is the only way to control its spread. If the infection spreads in India, it may not be easy to tackle as coronavirus is a respiratory infection,” said a senior virologist at AIIMS.

India has so far reported only three cases, all in Kerala. As per the latest medical update, they are stable. The Centre on Thursday confirmed all 645 people, evacuated from China’s Wuhan and lodged at the quarantine facilities in and around Delhi, had tested negative. According to the Union health ministry, their samples will be re-tested on the 14th day of the quarantine period.

Sanjeev Khirwar, health and family welfare secretary in Delhi government, said, “All available manpower starting from the district magistrates and district surveillance officers to ASHA workers and auxiliary nursing midwives have been trained and tasked to trace these people.” A 24x7 helpline at the district level, in addition to a centralised one, has also been started.

One of the issues being faced by many states is the shortage of personal protective equipment such as N95 masks. Delhi has five lakh masks and 5,000 masks each have been provided to the 11 district medical officers for distribution among health workers, said Khirwar.

According to the World Health Organization, people should frequently wash hands and avoid close contact with anyone having fever and cough. They should also seek immediate medical care in case of fever, cough and breathing difficulties and share their travel histories.