A high alert was issued in Madhya Pradesh after two suspected cases of coronavirus infection were reported from Ujjain on Tuesday. Health minister Tulsi Silawat said that the government is very serious on the issue and instructions have been issued to senior officers for strict surveillance and preventive measures.
A youth, who is studying MBBS in Wuhan, China —one of the most affected areas — and his mother have been reported with the symptoms of suspected coronavirus. The patients are being treated in isolation at Madhav Hospital in Ujjain and their samples have been sent out to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for testing, Ujjain chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Mahavir Khandelwal told THE WEEK.
The patients have reported typical symptoms of influenza (runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever) as reported in Coronavirus infection, but confirmation would be possible only through testing, officials said.
The student had returned to Ujjain from China on January 13, before the screening for coronavirus infection at the international airports started, sources said.
Coronavirus infection has spread panic across the globe. Though no confirmed cases have been reported in India as yet, about 450 persons across country are under watch and 14 have been admitted to isolation wards of hospitals in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Patna and now Ujjain.
Meanwhile, MP health department and other departments concerned have swung into action and set up surveillance and screening system at Indore and other airports. The health minister Tulsi Silawat told the media that the suspected patients would be treated in isolation for which special wards would be created in all government facilities and all other required preventive measures would be taken.
The health department has said that apart from screening and preventive measures, awareness would be created as regards the infection and the fact that medical intervention should be sought if the typical symptoms are seen in people who could be potentially infected.
