The Indian Army has scaled up its contribution in the fight against coronavirus with a decision to set up facilities to quarantine 1500 people across the country, reports agency ANI. The army was already running a quarantine camp in Haryana’s Manesar, close to the national capital.
India has 31 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far and around 30,000 people under watch for the illness either at different quarantine facilities, at hospital or at their homes.
The health minister said that till Thursday, “28,529 people with a history of travel to a Covid-19-affected country, or contact with a positive case, have been brought under community surveillance and monitoring”.
The need for expanding the quarantine facilities is a part of the preparation to deal with a possible escalation in the number of suspected cases.
The rising global spread of the disease has also not helped matters as passengers coming from countries affected by Coronavirus also need screening and quarantining if found with matching symptoms.
About one lakh people have been infected worldwide including over 3,300 who died due to the disease.
Over 6.5 lakh passengers from over 6,500 flights had been screened for signs of coronavirus infection till Thursday.
Army has identified Jaisalmer, Suratgarh, Secundrabad, Chennai and Kolkata as venues for the new quarantine facilities.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is also running a camp in Chhawla near Delhi, where Indians evacuated from Wuhan were kept before they were discharged.
