COVID-19 in India: Recently, With a new confirmed case in Ghaziabad, the total number of people infected by a coronavirus in India has gone up to thirty.In India, the (coronavirus) virus had begun with three confirmed cases reported from Kerala. All of those three have now recovered.

A fresh travel advisory has been issued urging everyone to refrain from traveling to China, saying intended visitors from China might apply afresh for an Indian visa. Besides, from now on, anyone with a history of travel to China since January 15, 2020, could be quarantined to stop its spread.

On March 4, the infection was detected in 13 Italian nationals who were part of a travel group to Jaipur. In another instance, a Paytm employee in Gurugram also tested positive. Earlier in the week, two more people had tested positive, one from the national capital, and the other a Bengaluru techie in Telangana.

Tech giant Intel has also said one of its employees in Bengaluru has “potentially been exposed” to coronavirus and is currently under quarantine.

People who flew on-board an Air India Vienna-Delhi flight on February 25 have been asked to follow government protocols after a Delhi resident, who was a passenger on the aircraft, tested positive. 4 IndiGo crew members, who flew with coronavirus positive Bengaluru techie were put under home observation.

View the latest updates of coronavirus cases in India.

What is coronavirus or COVID-19

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 and elsewhere is a novel strain and not seen before. Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, according to the WHO. The WHO has declared the coronavirus epidemic as a global health emergency.

What’s happening in India

  • Passengers from 12 countries are being screened, including those from Kathmandu, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
  • India has imposed “some restrictions” on export of certain medical equipment to China in view of their shortage of supply in the country, and the precautions taken are in accordance with World Health Organisation’s (WHO) advisory for the coronavirus outbreak.
  • India also restricted export of about 26 Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and formulations including antibiotics, vitamins and hormones like Paracetamol, Tinidazole, Metronidazole, Vitamins B1, B6, B12, hormone progesterone, with immediate effect.
  • Telangana has allocated Rs 100 crore for preventing and containing a possible outbreak. Private hospitals have been given a directive not to delay reporting cases. Three designated hospitals for isolating patients have been set up.
  • Sixteen Indians have tested positive for coronavirus test aboard the cruise liner Diamond Princess. The last batch of healthy passengers disembarked and returned to India after the quarantine period ended. including 132 crew and 6 passengers, were among the 3,711 people on board the ship.
5 questions answered:
How many under surveillance?
Over 25,738 passengers have been brought under community surveillance. In addition, over five lakh passengers have been screened at airports and 12,431 people screened at major and minor seaports.What is the Centre doing?

The govt has suspended all regular visas/e-visas granted on or before March 3 to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea, Japan who have not yet entered India.

Those requiring to travel to India due to compelling reasons may seek fresh visa from nearest Indian Embassy/Consulate, according to a release.

The advisory also suspended visa on arrival (VoA) issued by March 3 to Japan and South Korea nationals who have not yet entered India.India has also issued a fresh travel advisory to avoid non-essential travel to Korea, Iran and Italy, in addition to China.

People coming from Republic of Korea, Iran and Italy or having such travel history since 10 February may be quarantined for 14 days on arrival to India, along with anyone with a history of travel to China since January an 15, 2020.

India has also advised citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Singapore.

Any Indians left in Wuhan?
India has operated three flights to Wuhan, bringing back 723 Indians and 43 foreign nationals.

A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1 and 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in China.

Since then there’s been an evacuation on February 27, when Air India brought back 119 Indians and five foreign nationals who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked off Yokohama, in Japan.

And another, when the Indian government flew an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft to Wuhan (on February 26) carrying 15 tonnes of medical assistance comprising masks, gloves and other medical equipment. On its return, this IAF aircraft also brought back 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals.

Are airlines still flying to China?
Air India, other Indian airlines have suspended flights to China and Iran, while airlines have restricted flights to Hong Kong.

At present only Iran Air and Mahan Air operate several weekly flights to Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi. IndiGo and Air India have suspended flights to China and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, SpiceJet has canceled their flights to Hong Kong.

Vistara has canceled some flights to Bangkok and Singapore.Where are the screening wards in India?
The virus can be tested in a laboratory through a Real Time-PCR, followed by gene fingerprinting. In India, 15 labs are functional to test the novel coronavirus so far. “Nineteen will be made operational soon,” said Union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.

In Delhi: Manesar camp is already monitoring those who have come from China. Ram Manohar Lohia, AIIMS and Safdarjung hospitals in the capital have also readied isolation facilities.
In Mumbai: Two Mumbai hospitals namely, Kasturba hospital and Pune’s Naidu hospital- have been dedicated for suspected patients in the state.
In Karnataka: The state government has placed border districts of Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chamarajnagar and Mysuru under novel coronavirus surveillance. At Mangaluru International Airport, a health unit comprising doctors and assistants have been formed to screen passengers. An isolation ward with ten beds has been set up at the Government Wenlock Hospital to treat patients with the symptoms.In Manipur: Five centres have been opened in different border towns of the state and at the Imphal International Airport to screen people for coronavirus.In Manipur: Five centres have been opened in different border towns of the state and at the Imphal International Airport to screen people for coronavirus.In Mizoram: Facility opened in Mizoram where people entering through India-Myanmar border are being tested at Zokhawthar.

The test being done in India is the same one that is used for testing HIV, H1N1, dengue, polio.
So far, specimens of suspected novel coronavirus patients are tested at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s laboratories at Alappuzha, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, besides the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. All these labs are work under the guidance of NIV.