India registers 30 positive cases of Covid-19

New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Telangana State Government, which had gone into high alert mode on Wednesday following reports that a woman techie was found to be infected with coronavirus, heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday as the reports from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, confirmed that all the 13 samples that were sent, including that of the woman techie and a sanitation workers from Apollo Hospitals, Secunderabad tested negative while the number of infected positive cases in the country have gone up to 30.

A man from Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has tested positive for novel coronavirus in Ghaziabad, taking the total number of cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.

Till Wednesday, 29 people, including 16 Italian tourists, tested positive for coronavirus. The list includes the first three cases in the country from Kerala last month. The three persons have been discharged following recovery.

Meanwhile, five persons who came in contact with the Paytm employee who works in Gurgaon and lives in west Delhi have been tested and quarantined till their results come in, Delhi government health officials said.

The Paytm employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease with flu like symptoms on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurgaon, an official said, citing his counterpart in the suburban town.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said an Indian medical team is in Iran and the authorities here are working on the logistics with their Iranian counterparts for the return of the Indians stranded there in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. He said the Indian medical team was likely to set up its first clinic at Qom to start screening for coronavirus.

Making a suo motu statement first in Rajya Sabha and then in Lok Sabha on steps taken to contain the virus, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said as on March 4, 29 positive cases have been reported in the country.

Official sources on Thursday said one more case of novel coronavirus was reported in Ghaziabad and the middle-aged man had a recent travel history to Iran.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre in Delhi on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus.

An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS medical college. Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said 175 people have been tested so far for coronavirus in the state with 157 of them showing no sign of the infection.

Of the remaining 18 tested, six are from Agra and one from Ghaziabad, he said, referring to the seven cases which have tested positive.

The reports of the remaining 11 are yet to be received from NIV, according to the minister. Seven persons from three families have been isolated at home at Seoni in Madhya Pradesh for suspected exposure to the coronavirus following their return from Italy last month.