We stopped Ebola, will stop Coronavirus too, says health minister
A doctor from China’s Hubei province has reportedly succumbed to the deadly coronavirus, becoming the first medical professional to have fallen victim to it.
According to a Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, Liang Wudong, 62, a surgeon at Xinhua Hospital in the province, died at 7 am on Saturday. The report also says that the doctor was suspected to be infected with the virus last week before he was transferred to Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital for treatment.
At the same time, speaking about the precautionary efforts against coronavirus in India, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the country could fight diseases like novel Coronavirus (nCov). “Last year, we stopped the Ebola virus from entering India, similarly this year, with all precautionary measures taken by the government we will stop this new Coronavirus disease from entering the country,” he said.
Along with that, he also said that no case of nCoV had been detected here in the country so far. “People who are coming from China have been kept under isolation as a precautionary step because the disease takes some time to manifest.” He also added that the ministry is closely working with the Ministry of External Affairs to bring back Indians stuck in China amid the ongoing outbreak there.
“I will urge the media to report on the issue with sensitivity. If three cases have come to RML that doesn’t mean that they have the disease. You should spread awareness regarding self-test and other advisories instead of fear.”
The Health Ministry also announced on Tuesday that four additional viral research and diagnostic labs of the Indian Council of Medical Research have been sanctioned for testing samples in addition to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.
“Four labs of @ICMRDELHI”s Viral Research & Diagnostics Lab Network at Alleppey, Bengaluru, Hyderabad & Mumbai activated for testing samples. This is in addition to @icmr_niv, Pune,” it said in a tweet.
Chinese health authorities on Tuesday that the death toll due to 2019-nCoV outbreak in the country has increased to 106, with 4,515 confirmed cases in 30 provincial-level regions.
Source: The Week, India TV