Union Health Secy reviews preparedness of States/UTs on Novel Coronavirus

New Delhi (India), Feb 7 (ANI): The Union Health Secretary, Preeti Sudan on Friday held a meeting via video conference (VC) with health secretaries of states and union territories along with senior officials from ministry of shipping, ministry of external affairs, ministry of civil aviation, ministry of tourism and ministry of home affairs, to review preparedness for prevention and management of novel coronavirus (nCoV).
"All the possible support has been extended to all the States and Union Territories to combat the situation arising due to Novel Coronavirus (nCoV)," said Preeti Sudan.
"We have directed the health secretaries of all states/UTs to stay on high alert and be more vigilant. A portal has been put in place as a special surveillance web tool to monitor the cases on a real-time basis. This will also help with national-level monitoring. They have been asked to fill the data accurately and in a timely manner," said Sudan, adding that the border areas are also under surveillance.
Sudan informed that various precautionary measures have been taken up in close coordination with the concerned ministries at the central level.
"The situation is under control in the country and is being regularly monitored by the Prime Minister's Office, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, and the Cabinet secretary on a daily basis.
The Central government is also screening passengers at 21 airports, International Seaports, and border crossings.
1275 flights and 139539 passengers have been screened so far at 21 airports. All 645 evacuees from Wuhan have been tested negative for (nCoV).
As of now 1232 samples have been tested and 1199 samples were found negative, 30 are under process and 3 samples were tested positive in Kerala.
She also informed that universal screening of all flights from Singapore and Thailand besides Hong Kong and China will also be done at earmarked aero-bridges.
At least 6599 people are presently under community surveillance for the coronavirus across the country. (ANI)