The number of coronavirus infections in Hyderabad rose to three on Wednesday with two persons testing positive in preliminary checks, Telangana’s Public Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.
The samples of the two persons have been sent to the National Virology Laboratory in Pune for confirmation.
Of the two, one has travel history to Italy. The other is a contact of the 24-year old techie who tested positive for the virus on Monday.
The two had undergone preliminary tests at Hyderabad’s state-run Gandhi hospital.
More than 40 people who had come in contact with the affected techie have been kept under observation. On Monday, 47 people including these people had undergone the tests. While 45 tested negative, two tested positive.
The Telangana government has put in place 3,000 beds for isolation and close to 300 beds for patients requiring treatment.
The health officials also began publicising the preventive measures being taken to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread.
The virus was first detected in India in Kerala in January when three people tested positive. All three later recovered.
The infection has surged recently with 14 people including an Indian testing positive at the ITBP’s quarantine facility at Chhawla near Delhi on Wednesday. They were among 21 Italians and three Indians at the quarantine facility. Two Italian tourists in Jaipur have also been confirmed positive for coronavirus.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has announced that passengers from all countries will be screened at airports as a precautionary measure to stop the virus from spreading.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman K Krishnasagar Rao said the scheduled public rally of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on in Hyderabad on March 15 has been postponed on account of fears of coronavirus.
“The decision was taken to reduce mass physical contact of people during the public rally in the current context of serious precautions being undertaken by the central government to arrest the spread of coronavirus,” Rao said.
