No need to panic, tweets PM Modi on coronavirus outbreak in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (March 3) took to Twitter to assure his citizens that there is “no need to panic” even as there were two new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country over the last 48 hours.

In a tweet, he said that he had an “extensive review regarding preparedness on the COVID-19 to provide prompt medical attention”.

“Had an extensive review regarding preparedness on the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. Different ministries & states are working together, from screening people arriving in India to providing prompt medical attention,” he tweeted.

Related news: Coronavirus cases confirmed; Karnataka, Telangana on high alert

He urged all Indians to “work together and take small yet important measures to ensure self-protection”.

The Prime Minister also shared a picture listing out “basic protective measures”, including frequent washing of hands and maintaining social distance.

There is no need to panic. We need to work together, take small yet important measures to ensure self-protection. pic.twitter.com/sRRPQlMdtr

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 3, 2020

Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for an urgent meeting with Health Minister Satyendar Jain and other officials to take note of the preparedness of his government to deal with the novel coronavirus which has globally claimed more than 3,000 lives to date.

These meeting come a day after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a high-level meeting and asked people to avoid unnecessary travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea, and Singapore.

Related news: Crew of Vienna-Delhi flight asked to stay at home for 14 days

On Monday (March 2), two patients from Delhi and Telangana were tested positive with the renewed virus which was earlier detected in three persons from Kerala.

The 24-year-old software engineer from Telangana working in Bengaluru had last month worked in close contact with people from Hong Kong in Dubai, where he is suspected to have contracted the virus.

As for the patient from Delhi, the 45-year-old man had a travel history from Italy, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. With connection to the confirmed case, two schools in Noida, Uttar Pradesh announced that they’ll be shut for three days starting Wednesday after parent of a child studying in one of the schools was tested positive with the deadly virus.

Related news: Two schools in Noida suspend classes over coronavirus scare

He was not screened at Delhi airport because he flew in from Austria’s Vienna where the outbreak has not been declared serious, sources told NDTV.

Meanwhile, the crew of an Air India plane in which he returned to the country was asked to stay in a 14-day home isolation. However, it is not yet clear if the advisory was issued to the passengers in the flight as well.

An Italian tourist was on Monday (March 2) tested positive for the deadly virus infection and was been kept in isolation at a hospital in Jaipur, state health minister Raghu Sharma said while adding that the tourist, however, had tested negative in a previous test.

Related news: People who came in contact with coronavirus-hit techie being monitored

The earlier three reported cases from Kerala had returned from China’s Wuhan which is believed to be the origination point of the coronavirus.

The Government of India last month had launched a massive operation of bringing more than 600 Indian struck in Wuhan and as many as 119 Indian-origin persons were also brought back from the quarantined Japanese Diamond Princess Cruise ship.

The deadly virus which was first detected in December last year, has spread to more than 60 countries and infected more than 88,000 people also increasing the global death toll to about 3,100 with six deaths reported from the United States.