India plugs every possible loophole! Click to know 7 important measures to prevent coronavirus epidemic
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New Delhi, February 18: The new strain, called COVID-19, has killed more than 1,800 people, mostly in China and infected over 74,000 people worldwide. While India is monitoring the new coronavirus outbreak at the highest level to prevent an epidemic, the country has reported three confirmed cases in the state of Kerala, out of more than 1,700 people tested around the country as of Tuesday.
The fast-spreading virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan and belongs to a family of coronaviruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as the 2003 SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, outbreak.
Urging people to be calm amidst, the Health Minister last week had said that India had already started taking action on this in the middle of January, at least two weeks before the World Health Organization declared it as an emergency of international concern. “We’ve got very good coordination with all our state governments. The whole issue is being monitored at the highest level in the country and also with the state governments", HealthMin Dr Harsh Vardhan had noted.
Noting a slew of measures meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, taking to social media asserted the citizens who had travelled to China in the last 14 days or had had possible contact with 2019-nCoV patients to:
1. Stay in home isolation for 14 days after returning to India, sleeping in a separate room, limiting contact with other family members and avoiding visitors.
2. Cover nose while coughing and sneezing.
3. Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms, maintaining a distance of at least 1 metre.
4. If developed fever, cough or breathing difficulties with 28 days of returning from China, must call the helpline +91-11-2397 8046 or mail ncov2019@gmail.com for more information.
5. Clean hands with soap and water or alchohol-based hand rub.
6. Wear a mask immediately and report to the nearest medical facility as advised.
7. Not panic.
While the economic impact in China and others, at least for the current quarter, is expected to be significant, India would be less affected. In a recent note that’s likely due to the relatively small percentage of Chinese tourist arrivals to the country as well as a small share of Indian exports that go to China. However, India’s imports from China are close to 14% and delays in shipments can have a bearing on economic activity in the former.