A travel advisory has been extended to 12 more airports in addition to the current seven, the health ministry said. (Picture for representation: Reuters)

As many as 20,844 passengers from 96 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus symptoms in India as of January 24, a statement from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

The health ministry said 4,082 passengers were screened in 19 flights on Friday.

A travel advisory has been extended to 12 more airports in addition to the current seven, the health ministry said.

The statement also said that no case of novel coronavirus (nCoV) has been detected in the country so far. Three persons, however, have been put under observation, it added. The ministry said of the three cases, two are from Mumbai while one is from Hyderabad.

11 suspected cases: 7 in Kerala, 3 in Mumbai, 1 in Hyderabad

A total of eleven people have been kept under observation for possible exposure to novel coronavirus infection- three in Mumbai, seven in Kerala and one in Hyderabad.

Three Mumbai residents - who hail from the suburban areas of Virar and Vasai - have been admitted to Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli. Two patients went to China on January 16 and returned on January 22 while the third came back from Hong Kong on January 9. All three of them complained of cough, cold, fever and difficulty in breathing on their return and were thereby put under observation.

Speaking to India Today TV, Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakane said, "The blood samples of all three have been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune and we are expecting the results by tomorrow. After that, we will be able to assertion whether they are indeed gripped with the virus or not."

According to Kerala state health ministry officials in Thiruvananthapuram, seven people who had shown mild symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat are under watch in state-run hospitals in different districts in the state. Two of them are in the state capital while one each is in observation in Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Pathanamthitta.

Officials in Kerala said another 73 people were being kept under medical surveillance at their homes in the state.

Special wards set up at AIIMS, RML Hospital in Delhi and Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai

A special centre has been established inside Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai for screening patients at initial stages.

"There are four dedicated wards and 16 rooms and for each room there will be a doctor, nurse and a paramedic appointed. For the medical staff all necessary equipment like masks, aprons, gloves and other protective gear have been provided so that they are protected while treating the patients," Suresh Kakane told India Today.

In Delhi, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital have set up isolation wards and kept beds ready for providing treatment to any suspected case of novel coronavirus infection.

The medical superintendent of RML Hospital Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj confirmed that an isolation ward has been set up to provide treatment or to keep under observation any suspected cases of novel coronavirus infection.

AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said, "We have an isolation ward and we have beds kept ready for providing care and treatment for suspected coronavirus cases in Delhi or elsewhere in India."

Death toll rises to 26, over 800 affected in China

The outbreak of the new coronavirus that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has killed 26 people and infected more than 800 globally.

There were 830 confirmed cases and 26 people had died in China, the National Health Commission said.

Thailand has five cases, Singapore and Taiwan three, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and the United States have each reported two cases, and Nepal one.

The WHO said that while the outbreak was an emergency for China, it was not yet a global health emergency.

The previously unknown strain is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in Wuhan.

The virus has caused alarm because it is still too early to know just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. And because it is new, humans have not been able to build any immunity to it.

(With inputs from agencies, PS Gopikrishnan Unnithan in Kerala and Pankaj Upadhyay in Mumbai)