NEW DELHI : India on Sunday recorded five more cases of deadly coronavirus (also known as COVID-19), taking the total number of confirmed cases to 39.

Five more people from Kerala, three with recent travel history to Italy, have tested positive for coronavirus following which the state has been put on high alert, state health minister K.K. Shailaja said in Thiruvananthapuram today.

The three, a couple and their son, had evaded health screening at the airport on their return about a week ago and all the five hail from Ranni in Pathnamthitta district, the Kerala health minister said.

"As of now their condition is stable. But there is need to take extra care", the minister added.

The fresh cases have been reported days after the Kerala had successfully treated India's first three coronavirus patients —medical students from Wuhan— who have been discharged from hospitals.

Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today ordered that DTC and cluster buses, Delhi Metro and city hospitals to be disinfected on a regular basis as a precautionary measure to deal with the deadly virus.

Appealing Delhi citizens not to panic, the Delhi chief minister said that the national capital was fully prepared to deal with the deadly coronavirus. He said 168 isolation beds were being set up at 25 hospitals in the city sate for coronavirus patients.

Yesterday, three people were found positive for the deadly infection — two from Ladakh with travel history to Iran and one from Tamil Nadu with travel history to Oman.

Separately, the Union health ministry said more that 150 people, who had come in contact with two American nationals who tested positive for coronavirus in Bhutan and had toured various placed in India, have been put under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

According to the government, a total of 726,122 people from 7,108 flights have been screened at different airports. Between Friday morning and Saturday, total of 73,766 passengers from 573 flights have undergone screening at airports.

“As many as 52 laboratories are now operational across the country for testing COVID-19 virus. An additional 57 laboratories have been provided with viral transport Media and swabs for sample collection," the health ministry statement said.

The government said 108 samples have been received from Iran Saturday morning. These samples are being tested at the laboratory in AIIMS. Also, six scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been stationed in Iran. Equipment and reagents, worth approximately ₹10 crores have been dispatched to enable them to setup a lab there.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via

Click here to read the Mint ePapermint is now on Telegram. Join mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated