New Delhi: Seven more people who returned from China have been kept under observation at health facilities in Kerala following screening for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus (nCoV) even though no positive case has been detected in the country so far, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. Samples of these seven passengers have been sent to the ICMR-NIV Pune lab. Samples of four other passengers tested earlier have been confirmed to be negative for nCoV by the lab. Under directions from Vardhan, a 24x7 NCDC Call Centre ( 91-11-23978046) has been made operational, said the Union Health Ministry on Saturday. The Union Health Minister has directed for multidisciplinary central teams to be sent to the seven states where thermal screening is being done at the seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi.

Source: Mint January 25, 2020 10:52 UTC