After Delhi, Hyderabad, 6 suspected COVID-19 cases in Agra, another suspected case in Jaipur

Kept at a hospital in Agra, six were in contact with the Delhi resident who was reported positive for COVID-19

The Centre on Tuesday confirmed a fresh case of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection in Jaipur besides keeping six individuals with high viral load on isolation and worked on arrangements to brace itself with the possibility of community spread of the virus that has killed more than 3,000 people across the world.

“One new case has been confirmed as positive for COVID-19 from Jaipur. The patient is in isolation and is stable,” the Union Health Ministry said in a release. The identity of the individual has not officially been disclosed, but sources said he was an Italian tourist who is now in SMS hospital in the pink city.

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As many as 24 persons including 21 Italian tourists and three Indians (bus driver, conductor and tourist guide) who had contact with the Italian national has been shifted to the ITBP quarantine facility at Chhawla for testing.

Six members of two families, all residents of Uttar Pradesh's Agra town, were quarantined after they were found to be infected with coronavirus by a Lucknow laboratory. Their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for confirmation. All six were in contact with the Delhi resident who was reported positive for COVID-19.

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“Six cases with high viral load have been detected during sample testing in Agra. These are the ones who have come in contact with the COVID-19 patient from New Delhi. They have been kept in isolation,” the ministry said in a statement.

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“Contact tracing of the persons who have come in contact with these six persons is also simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme network.”

A UP government official said that during the initial investigation at a Lucknow laboratory all the six were found to be having ''high viral load''. ''Seven other members of the same families were in isolation at their homes,'' he added.

The official said that the two families and a relative of theirs had recently visited Italy. They had returned on February 25. The Delhi resident later tested positive for COVID-19.

''We have taken samples of over a dozen more people, who had come into contact with the members of the two families,'' he added. Another man was kept in an isolation ward at a hospital in the state capital after displaying symptoms of infection.

The Delhi person who came from Vienna in an Air India flight on Feb 25 hosted a party where the Agra suspects were possibly exposed to the virus. Now the passengers and crew from the flight as well as the staff of the restaurant are being brought under the surveillance net.

A resident of Mayur Vihar on the eastern fringe of the national capital, the Delhi person's child studies in a private school in Noida, which has been shut on Monday with Noida health authorities fumigating the school.

On Monday, two new COVID-19 cases from Delhi and Telengana were confirmed.

The Centre has asked the Army, Navy and Air Force to prepare for quarantine facilities for 2500 suspected cases in coming days. An isolation ward has been readied at Safdarjung hospital, which may open up more such wards in future. Delhi government also announced the creation of isolation facilities at 25 government hospitals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reviewed India's preparedness against the virus. “Had an extensive review regarding preparedness on the COVID19. Different ministries and states are working together, from screening people arriving in India to providing prompt medical attention,” he tweeted.