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Coronavirus Updates, March 7: India Reports Three New Cases
The Wire Science
The Wire Science

Coronavirus Updates, March 7: India Reports Three New Cases

07/03/2020

According to the WHO’s latest situation report, issued on March 6, 98,192 people have been infected in 89 countries by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and 3,380 people have been killed. Of these, 80,711 people have been infected and 3,045 people have been killed in China.

Maldives confirms first cases of coronavirus

The Maldives has confirmed that two individuals have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The two infected people are employees at a tourist resort and are believed to have caught the disease from an Italian tourist who has returned to Italy and tested positive there, Reuters reported.

Both are showing symptoms but are in stable condition in a quarantine facility just outside Malé, the island capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago, a health ministry official said.

India’s case count up to 34

Sanjeeva Kumar, special secretary of the Union health ministry, has confirmed that three more people have tested positive for the new coronavirus in India, bringing the country’s total confirmed case count to 34, Economic Times has reported. Two of the three new patients are from Ladakh, and are believed to have recently travelled to Iran, and one is from Tamil Nadu and recently travelled to Oman. The ministry also said all their conditions are stable and are being monitored.

In addition, according to India Today, two Indians from Punjab who recently travelled to Italy tested positive in preliminary tests conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Doctors at a hospital in Amritsar, where the two have been hospitalised, are awaiting the results of further tests based on their samples sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

Coronavirus cases being missed in Leh, says doctor

The medical superintendent of a hospital in Leh has alleged that coronavirus cases are being missed in the region because of inadequate testing. Dr Tsering Angchuk, the medical superintendent in Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital (SNM) told The Telegraph that he received three patients suspected of having contracted coronavirus in late January.

One patient had “breathing difficulties and running a high fever at the time of admission”. He sent a letter to the chief medical officer in Leh asking the samples to be sent to the coronavirus testing facility in Pune.

“However, the hospital authorities refused to send samples arguing it would be impossible for coronavirus to have infected anyone in Kashmir,” the newspaper said.

Kuwait cancels flights affected countries

  • The directorate general of civil aviation of Kuwait announced that airlines would have to suspend flights between Kuwait International Airport and locations in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Lebanon, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Syria for one week, in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus
  • However, the directorate also clarified citizens of Kuwait would be allowed to return to the country provided they undergo quarantine procedures
  • As of March 6, Kuwait had reported 58 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections in the country but no deaths

Coronavirus claims life of advisor to Iranian foreign minister

  • COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, claimed the life of Hossein Sheikholeslam on March 6, Dawn reported
  • Iran is the worst affected country due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus outside China
  • Thus far, 107 people in Iran have died due to COVID-19, six of them politicians and government officials
  • According to Dawn, Sheikhholeslam “advised foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif”, was former ambassador to Syria, “served as deputy foreign minister from 1981 to 1997, and was one of the students involved in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.”

Quarantine facilities for 1,500 people

  • The Indian army will establish quarantine facilities for 1,500 people around the country, Hindustan Times reported
  • India thus far has confirmed 31 COVID-19 cases, the second-highest in the Southeast Asian region behind Thailand (47)
  • The tentative locations of the facilities are Chennai, Jaisalmer, Kolkata, Secunderabad and Suratgarh (Rajasthan)
  • The newspaper also reported service personnel have been asked to keep away from crowded areas like movie halls and shopping malls as part of the government’s emergency response
  • The army HQ has also issued an advisory to install isolation wards and OPDs in military hospitals that will work in tandem with the Indian Council of Medical Research
  • Similarly, the Indian Air Force has asked personnel to put off all non-essential gatherings and the navy has postponed its biggest multinational maritime exercise

 

This is a developing story and is being updated.

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