Covid cases rise to 30, PM cancels Belgium visit as EU summit put off

Ghaziabad man tests positive after return from Iran

BOX

Additional visa curbs

Passengers from Italy, South Korea need a certificate of having tested negative for Covid to enter India

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 5

As the global spread of novel coronavirus continued and India saw its 30th Covid-19 case — a man from Ghaziabad with travel history to Iran — Prime Minister Narendra Modi today deferred his visit to Belgium for a summit with the European Union leaders that had been scheduled for later this month.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the health authorities of both countries suggested that travelling must not take place at present and “so it has been decided that the summit will be rescheduled on a mutually convenient date”.

Back in India, the total number of Covid-19 cases reached 30 today. These include the previous three cases from Kerala, who have now been discharged.

In addition, there are two cases from Delhi (including the Paytm staffer working in Gurugram), one from Ghaziabad, six Agra-based family members of the first Delhi case with a travel history to Italy; one case from Telangana with travel history to Dubai and 16 Italians plus their one Indian driver from Jaipur.

In some respite today, two suspected contacts of the positive case from Hyderabad tested negative at National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said 14 Italian cases (two infected Italians are in isolation in Jaipur) are lodged in a hospital near Delhi and all positive Indian patients are stable and are being monitored. Currently, 92 samples are under testing for Covid with the government squashing reports of a positive case from Raipur saying his sample is under test and he’s in home isolation. The Raipur resident recently returned from Kenya through Dubai and insisted on getting tested on the airport.

With 25 of the current positive cases in India reporting a travel history to Italy or contact with someone who has entered India from Italy, the government today expanded visa restrictions for persons travelling from Italy or South Korea.

“In addition to the visa restrictions already in place, passengers travelling from or having visited Italy or the Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need a certificate of having tested negative for Covid-19 from the designated laboratories authorised by the health authorities of these countries,” the Health Ministry said.

This measure will be enforced from March 10 and is temporary till the Covid cases subside, the government clarified.

The Delhi Government, meanwhile, ordered closure of all primary — government, aided and private schools — until March 31 to prevent unnecessary travel by young children and also large gatherings.

The closure was announced by Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia as three cases emerged in Delhi and NCR. Outside mainland China, Italy and Iran are the worst-affected nations.

In a sign of worry today, the Health Minister in his update to both Houses of Parliament said prevention of cluster cases in Agra was a matter of challenge since six people of a family had been infected by one Delhi patient who returned from Italy.

Later today Health Ministry Special Secretary Sanjeeva Kumar said India was observing community transmission requiring the involvement of district collectors in containment.

Vardhan told Parliament that in addition to managing travel-related cases, additional challenge was to contain clusters due to local transmission that required resource-intensive containment operations.

“We have provided the containment action plan to all states. A national-level training workshop has been planned for all the states and hospitals from other ministries on Covid management on March 6,” Minister said.

The government today also designated District Collector as the nodal officer at field level for containment operations with the onus equally shifting to states to pick up cases and isolate them.

Vardhan said there was no cause for panic and the PM was personally monitoring containment efforts.

Later today Vardhan held a meeting with private sector hospital managers to seek their help for managing and containing the spread of the virus. The minister also asked the states to check hoarding.