Five more patients, including four men and one woman, have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital for suspected exposure to novel coronavirus, officials said on 30th January.

The patients are residents of Delhi and have recently returned from China, hospital authorities said. On January 28, three patients were admitted to the hospital for similar suspicion of exposure to the deadly virus that traces its roots from the seafood market in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in central China. The patients, since then have been kept under strict health monitoring and isolation for the medical treatment. The hospital preparedness with regard to management and infection prevention control facilities was reviewed during high-level meetings on Monday.

Following this, advisories, and IPC guidelines have been shared with the states and adequate stocks of logistics including PPE is available. The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has been conducting the thermal health screening of passengers arriving from China including Hong Kong to 13 airports across the county, including Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively.

All the airports have virus screening and prevention signage displayed boldly at the strategic locations. This is being done as a preventive measure against the outbreak of deadly novel coronavirus Disease (nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province of China where more than 2000 cases have been reported and the virus has claimed over 80 lives.