Coronavirus: All 77 in Maharashtra's isolation wards test negative

All 77 people kept in isolation wards in Maharashtra for suspected exposure to the novel coronavirus since January 18 this year have tested negative, and 73 of them have been discharged, a state Health department official said on Friday.

The Naidu Hospital in Pune and Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital have two people each in isolation as on Friday, he added.

"Till Friday, all 77 samples sent by the state have tested negative as per reports of Pune's National Institute of Virology (NIV)," the health department official said.

Since the outbreak of the virus in China and its spread across the globe through travellers, the Maharashtra government, acting on the guidelines issued by the Centre, has been placing people in isolation wards and screening those arriving at the Mumbai international airport from places affected by the outbreak.

As per the health department data, 44,517 people have been screened at the airport till Friday.

He said a 14-day follow-up of 279 people who arrived in the state from covid-19 affected areas was underway, adding that all arrivals from China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, are being quarantined and tested even if they are not showing any symptoms.

"As on Friday, of the 279, the 14-day follow-up period of 170 has been completed," he informed.

Maharashtra has 39 isolation wards comprising 361 beds to tackle the virus outbreak presently.