Coronavirus / 15 Italian tourists in Delhi test positive for coronavirus

As many as 15 Italian tourists have tested positive for coronavirus, government officials confirmed on Wednesday. The infected people were among 21 Italian tourists who were brought from a hotel in South Delhi to ITBP quarantine facility in Chhawla for preventive isolation on Tuesday. This comes after an Italian tourist couple, who were touring Rajasthan, tested positive for the virus.

India TV : Mar 04, 2020, 11:55 AM
New Delhi: As many as 15 tourists from Italy were tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total positive cases in India to 21. The development was confirmed after 21 Italian nationals reached ITBP quarantine centre. All precautionary measures are being taken by ITBP, official sources have said. The development comes days after a Delhi man who had returned from Italy tested positive for coronavirus. On Tuesday, his wife also tested positive for the disease in Jaipur. 

The fresh cases came to light after the samples of the Italian tourists were tested at AIIMs in New Delhi. All 15 Italian tourists have been kept at the ITBP facility at Chhawla. 

The tourists were kept in preventive isolation since Tuesday afternoon. Samples of 15 have now tested positive. 

Meanwhile, the six people from Noida who had come in contact with the infected Delhi man, have tested negative for coronavirus. The coronavirus infected man from Delhi had organised a party in Agra, which was also attended by the school mates of his children and five other families. 

Two schools in Noida were shut on Tuesday after amid fears of coronavirus spread after it was learnt that the children of the infected man study at a school in Noida. The school bus was also sanitised as a precautionary measure. 

Meanwhile, hotels and tourist sites in Agra were instructed to inform the office of the Chief Medical Officer as soon as visitors from Italy, Iran or China arrive so that they can be screened for coronavirus infection. 

As soon as any information is received, a team of doctors will be dispatched to examine the visitors for symptoms of COVID-19, Chief Medical Officer of Agra Dr. Mukesh Vats said.

"We have issued instructions to all hotels in the city that if any person is coming from Italy, Iran or China, they should inform us. As soon as the hotel informs us, a team of doctors goes to the hotel and examines them for symptoms of coronavirus. All the tourist sites have been told to inform the 24-hour control about visitors from countries where coronavirus outbreak has been reported," Vats said.