The deadly novel coronavirus has so far spread to at least 24 countries, including Germany, Australia and the United States. China has reported an increase in fatalities as the virus has claimed over 500 lives. Nearly 25,000 infection cases have been reported.

The Indian government on Monday set up a task force to monitor the situation arising out of the novel coronavirus with representatives from the Ministries of Health, Home, Civil Aviation and Women and Child Development, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said.

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world.

Here are the latest updates from India of the deadly coronavirus:

All 645 evacuees from Wuhan test negative for infection

The government on Thursday said all 645 Indian citizens evacuated from China's Wuhan and kept in isolation at Army Base camp at Manesar in urgaon and ITBP camps in Delhi tested negative for the deadly virus.

It said that as of February 6, 1,38,750 passengers from 1,265 flights had been screened for novel coronavirus illness but no new case was detected.

India has so far reported three confirmed cases of nCoV from Kerala. Three medical students studying at the Wuhan University who returned to India recently tested positive for the virus.

Besides, 510 samples were tested by ICMR network laboratories, of which all had tested negative except for the three already reported positive cases. The three cases are clinically stable, the ministry said in a statement.

Two Chinese nationals quarantined at Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad

Two Chinese nationals have been admitted to the isolation ward of the state-run Gandhi hospital at Hyderabad as a precautionary measure after they approached it to be tested for presence of novel coronavirus, health officials said today.

Their samples have been sent for testing though they did not show any symptoms of the virus, PTI reported.

The two, said to be tourists, had first gone to the state-run Fever hospital here from the airport and from there, they reached the Gandhi hospital, they said.

Coronavirus scare hits Kerala's tourism sector, triggers wave of cancellations

Amid a global coronavirus scare and with all three positive cases of the epidemic in the country being reported in Kerala, the southern state has been pounded with mass cancellations of hotel bookings and tour packages. A senior official of the state Tourism Department said the exact number of cancellations was not yet available, but agreed that repeated instances of floods and epidemics were affecting the industry.

"There are 15-20% cancellations after the reporting of the coronavirus cases. But there are bookings also," Jose Dominic, CEO of the CGH Earth Group of Hotels, told PTI.

DGCI approves 'restricted use' of anti-HIV drugs on nCoV patients

The Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) today approved the "restricted use" of a combination of drugs used widely for controlling HIV infection in public health emergency for treating those affected by novel coronavirus (nCoV).

According to government sources, apex health research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had sought an emergency approval from the DCGI for the "restricted use" of the combination of two medications -- lopinavir and ritonavir -- for treatment of this respiratory ailment.

"We did our own docking studies and found that this could be a potentially useful drug against nCoV," an ICMR official said.

Delhi govt issues advisory on novel coronavirus

The Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi on Wednesday issued a public health advisory on novel coronavirus after the deadly virus claimed the lives of nearly 500 people globally and left nearly 25,000 people infected.

The advisory prescribed do's and dont's for the public to ward off any infection. The govt has also sets up a 24x7 control room for the citizens for any query related to virus, an official said.

"A round-the-clock control room has also been set up at the Directorate General of Health Services' headquarters to address queries related to the virus," said the official.

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