Jaipur: A man who returned from China after completing his medical degree has been kept in isolation by SMS Hospital administration on the instructions of Rajasthan medical and health minister Dr Raghu Sharma. The minister has asked the hospital authorities to screen him and his family members for the virus. The samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology. The man will be kept in isolation till they get the report from the lab.

The man was put under observation when he showed some symptoms of the virus infection. Though the chances of his being infected with the virus are very low, the department doesn’t want to take any chances, the minister said.

He added that 18 people from four different districts of the state have returned after visiting China.

“The concerned chief medical and health officers have been asked to keep these people under observation for 28 days and report immediately if they show any symptoms of virus infection,” said the minister.

He said that the central government has been requested to screen people arriving in the country for the virus.

“We are on alert. All the CMHOs have been asked to take precautionary measures and be prepared if we find anyone infected with the virus,” said the minister.