India detects two new cases of coronavirus in New Delhi and Telangana

Two new coronavirus cases surfaced in India on Monday, with one of them being a 24-year-old software engineer from Hyderabad employed in Bengaluru with a travel history to Dubai.

The other person is from Delhi and has a “travel history from Italy”, said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. An Italian tourist has also tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur. His blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for confirmation.

After the techie tested positive, authorities in Telangana alerted their counterparts in Bengaluru, who are scrambling to trace the people the techie came in contact with.

The youth, whose identity has not been revealed, had travelled to Dubai on company business on February 17. He is suspected to have contracted the virus from his Hong Kong colleagues.

Telangana’s health minister Eetala Rajender said the condition of the techie, who is undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, is stable. The youth is a resident of Mahendra Hills, Secunderabad, the minister said.

The techie flew to Bengaluru from Dubai on Feb 20 and came to Hyderabad two days later. He subsequently developed fever.

“He took treatment at Apollo Hospital for a few days and came to Gandhi Hospital only on Sunday evening. A test here showed him positive for coronavirus,” Eetala said.

Authorities in Karnataka have informed the Union government and are on high alert. Efforts are on to trace passengers on the Dubai flight and the airport staff who came in contact with him.

Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Karnataka, told DH that authorities will have to contact all employees who came in contact with the patient on Feb 20 and Feb 21.

“We have to contact all the employees who came in contact with the patient and people who travelled with him on the bus from Bengaluru to Hyderabad,” said Akhtar.

“We will take their samples and test them for any possible infection. The bus number and bus driver’s name has been provided to us. This will be the additional target samples to be tested. Our department is drawing up a plan to contact them as per protocol.”

Telangana health department officials are also in the process of isolating and conducting tests on people who met the Hyderabad techie in the last fortnight. Authorities in Karnataka have also put several districts borderingTelanganaonhigh alert. Karnataka Health CommissionerPankajKumarPandey said, “Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, and Raichur which borderTelangana will be put on high alert.”

When Kerala had three cases, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chamrajnagar, Udupi and Mysuru districts were on high alert. Meanwhile, Sunitha Krishnan, a noted anti-trafficking activist, who returned to Hyderabad from Bangkok, has been admitted at the Gandhi hospital after she complained of cough and other symptoms. NewsreportsfromTirupati stated a Taiwanese man has been admitted in an isolation ward at the government-run hospital, with severe symptoms of COVID-19.

His blood samples havebeenreportedlysent to GandhiHospitalfor tests. So far 3,245 samples have been tested in India, out of which only five are positive while reportson23arepending. The first three positive cases – all from Kerala – have been discharged from the hospital after they recovered.

The last person was discharged on February 20. The Group of Ministers on Covid-19 also met here to take stock of the situation including the supply of the bulk drugs from China and evacuation of Indians from Iran and Italy. Internal consultations are also being held on the evacuation of Indians stranded in Iran, which has been seriously hit by the outbreak.