68 people who came in contact with Italian couple test negative for coronavirus; 8 results awaited

The test reports of 68 people who had come in contact with the Italian couple, who are among the 30 coronavirus cases in India, have come out negative, a senior health department official said here on Thursday. Test results of eight more people are awaited, said Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh.

As many as 229 people were found to have come in contact with the Italian tourists who visited Jaipur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur. Of them, samples were collected from 76 people suspected to have been infected by the virus. "Sixty-eight have tested negative and test reports of eight samples are yet to come," Singh said.

The Italian couple are admitted to an isolation ward at SMS Hospital in Jaipur. After initial testing at SMS Hospital, samples of the husband-wife duo were sent to NIV-Pune for confirmation. The Pune institute confirmed them as coronavirus cases.

Singh said all samples collected from the hospital staff and the staff of the hotel they stayed in Jaipur have tested negative. However, as per protocol, they will be under watch for 14 days. If they show symptoms of the virus infection, they will be tested again.

Singh said 247 samples have been collected in the state so far and 239 samples have been tested. Barring the Italian couple, the test reports of all others (except 8 which are under process) are negative. He said 26,456 passengers of 180 flights have been screened for symptoms of coronavirus at Jaipur international airport so far.

Singh said the situation was reviewed with health department officials on Thursday. National Health Mission Director Naresh Thakral, CEO of state health insurance agency Suchi Tyagi and other officials were present in the meeting..