Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, there is some hope for India. 406 of the 650 citizens who were repatriated from the outbreak’s epicentre, the city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, have tested negative for the disease which has claimed well in excess of 1,000 lives worldwide and infected tens of thousands of people.
COVID-19, at the time of writing, has infected 71,144 people of whom 1,776 have died. With 11,348 people having recovered from the disease, there are presently 58,320 active cases. Of these individuals, 46,993 are reported to be in mild condition. The remaining 11,327 cases are serious or critical.
China continues to account for the overwhelming majority of cases and deaths. 70,553 COVID-19 cases have been reported from the country, with 1,771 fatalities. The remaining cases are dispersed across multiple countries spanning several continents. In addition, there is also the case of the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship moored off of the coast of Japan following the imposition of a quarantine by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare after a COVID-19 outbreak aboard.
Aboard the ship, 454 cases have been confirmed at the time of writing. Four Indians are confirmed to have fallen prey to COVID-19 aboard the cruise ship and are “receiving medical attention onshore” according to the Indian embassy in Japan. Fortunately, all of them “are responding well to the treatment.”
India has reported three cases of COVID-19, of whom all are reported to have recovered. All three cases were of students who had returned from Wuhan after studying there.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan met with Indians who had returned from Wuhan at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) quarantine facility in the village of Chhawla in Delhi. In a tweet, he praised the conduct of the ITBP and said that the agency “was entrusted with the responsibility which ITBP performed very well from day one.” As reported by ANI, Vardhan said that “other batches of Indians will be coming to India from China in the next few days. They will be sent to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police…Quarantine Facility for screening.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “personally monitoring” the situation according to Vardhan. Screening is underway for those returning from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand at 21 major airports across India.
