Coronavirus: Rajasthan health dept asks people to come forward for screening

A day after a suspected case of coronavirus was reported in Jaipur, Rajasthan's medical and health department on Monday issued helpline numbers and appealed to passengers who have traveled to China recently to come forward for screening. The department has also put up an advisory at Jaipur airport.

It has urged passengers who have traveled to China after January 1 to go for screening if they have a fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc. On Sunday, a suspected case of coronavirus was reported in the state, following which the patient was kept in isolation at the SMS government hospital here.

"His blood sample has been sent to national virology lab, Pune and the report is awaited," an official said. A total of 18 people from four districts of the state have returned India from China. Respective district chiefs and medical officers have been directed to keep them under surveillance for the next 28 days.

The novel coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. The virus, which has so far killed 56 people and affected 1,975 in China, is a novel strain and not seen before. It emerged from a seafood and animal market in China's Wuhan and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States.