Amid a heightening scare over coronavirus crisis, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Sunday said the passengers travelling to the north Indian state from Japan and South Korea will also be scanned for the virus in addition to those arriving in from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.
The guidelines in this regard have been issued to all the districts, especially Amritsar and Mohali, which have international airports.
The coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan in China has been spreading with frightening speed, with the number of cases shooting up over the weekend and claiming the lives of over 1,600 people so far in China.
In a statement, the minister said the Department of Health has identified 23 passengers who came from Singapore. One passenger, belonging to Jammu, had fever and was immediately taken to the isolation ward at the Government Medical College, Amritsar. The test report of the passenger has come negative and he was discharged.
Sidhu further informed the Health Department has screened approximately 22,000 passengers at Amritsar and Mohali airports so far. Around 7,500 passengers have been screened at Wagah border and Dera Baba Nanak posts.
He added that out of 39 samples that were tested for the virus, 38 have reported negative. One child, who is admitted in isolation ward at Barnala District Hospital with transit stay in Thailand, is reported to be healthy and fine now, the minister said.
The minister said the state has sufficient stock of triple-layered masks and N95 masks apart from PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) which are used by health care staff while managing suspected cases of corona or other such infectious diseases.
He has also appealed to the people who have travelled to the six countries and have returned to Punjab can report to 104 helplines, State and District IDSP units immediately so that teams can visit and examine them for any virus-infected symptom.
( With inputs from ANI )