Health minister chairs high-level meet on Coronavirus, says Govt took pre-emptive measures

Amid concerns as the number of Coronavirus cases rose to 43 on Monday, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan chaired a high-level meeting with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and other top officials.

Vardhan said that concerted action by all concerned departments was crucial to deal with the crisis.

Advertisement

In the meeting, the minister stressed upon coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies, for conducting activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, adequate availability of Personal Protective Equipments and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

Addressing the media following the meeting, Harsh Vardhan said the ministry has asked the Delhi government to prepare for isolation wards, quarantine facilities, availability of doctors, contact tracing and other precautions if the cases increase.

He informed that the Government, which started universal screening at seven airports on January 18, has now extended it to 30 airports.

“All passengers coming from other countries are being screened at the airports. So far, 8,74,708 passengers have been screened,” the minister said.

“Over 3,000 people have been placed on surveillance for risk of the disease, he added.

The Health Minister further said that the Government has sent scientists to Iran, where at least 2000 Indians are stranded. He said the scientists will start operations once they receive custom clearance. He added that as of now, swab samples of stranded Indians are being brought to India, which are being tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus, and those people who will be tested negative will be brought back.

Harsh Vardhan further outlined the various measures that are being taken by the states and Centre to prevent the disease’s spread.

“We took preventive measures on time, which is why the disease is contained compared to other countries,” he said, adding that this was not a cue to become “composite”.

Addressing the current Coronavirus outbreak, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said all patients in Delhi were being tracked.

“Till now there are four cases in Delhi,” he said, adding that the state government was in regular touch with the Centre.

“People are also alert and aware,” he said. The Chief Minister said that very soon, loudspeakers and pamphlets would be used to spread awareness. “We are tracking all the people who have returned after international travel. We’ll be in touch with them for 14 days from the date of their arrival,” he said.