Four people under observation for Coronavirus in Bengaluru

The death toll has climbed to 132 people in China as of Wednesday, according to reports.

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Four persons have been put under observation for the Coronavirus infection by the Karnataka Family Health and Welfare Department, an official said on Tuesday.

"We are observing four people and we had quarantined 11 people till January 28 for Coronavirus," Family Health and Welfare Department's Joint Secretary, Communicable Diseases, BT Prakash Kumar said.

In an eight-day period from January 20 to 28, as many as 3,275 passengers were subjected to thermal screening at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in the city. On Tuesday, 224 passengers were screened at the airport.

Kumar said no passenger tested positive for the virus at the airport. Of the 3,275 passengers screened at the airport, only three had a history of visiting China's Wuhan — the epicentre of the disease outbreak — in the last 14 days.

However, no Coronavirus case has been confirmed so far by the department, Kumar said.

As many as six people have been quarantined at their residences, while one patient has been discharged after testing negative for the virus.

Meanwhile, the State Health and Family Welfare Department has also asked private hospitals in the city to set aside 10 beds exclusively for cases of the Coronavirus. The department also organised an orientation programme for doctors in government and private hospitals about the virus.

The government on Tuesday began preparations to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Wuhan City. Air India has kept a 423-seater jumbo plane ready as the airline awaits necessary approvals to operate the special flight.

According to reports, the death toll is now at 132 people because of the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and close to 6,000 people have been diagnosed. Wuhan City has been placed on lockdown and airports around the world have been screening passengers arriving from Wuhan and other parts of China. While cases of the infection have been reported in multiple countries, including the United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, cases of death have only been reported in China.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus called ‘novel coronavirus’ or ‘2019-nCoV’ in a person with pneumonia-like symptoms in China’s Wuhan city in Hubei Province on January 9.

After this, the health body encouraged countries to "continue preparedness activities" to ensure that the disease does not spread. The virus causes respiratory problems and accordingly, countries have been told to increase surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and any unusual patterns of SARI or pneumonia cases.