Teams of doctors from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are expected to inspect 14 international airports in the country, including the one in the city, in the next few days to review the preventive measures being taken to tackle cases, if any, of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) that is causing alarm worldwide.
According to reliable sources, the teams, comprising three doctors each, will inspect the screening camps, the testing facilities at airports, and the designated hospitals at each location.
The teams will later submit their reports to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS). They will also brief the Health Secretary of the respective State governments about the measures to be taken up.
The other 13 airports to be visited by the Central teams are Amritsar, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Trichy, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Varanasi, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Bagdogra, and Gaya.
Lab in Hyderabad
Meanwhile, the Virology Lab at Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad was on Wednesday given the approval to test the samples of suspected nCoV patients coming from the Wuhan province and other parts of China.
“Earlier, the samples were sent to the Virology Lab in Pune. But now, the lab in Hyderabad has been designated to test the samples of suspected patients from Andhra Pradesh,” K. Rambabu, Professor of Medicine, Andhra Medical College (AMC), and State Nodal Officer, told The Hindu.
Dr. Rambabu said this would reduce the delay in sending the samples to Pune and enable quick delivery of reports.
“We have not home quarantined any person so far in Visakhapatnam. In Tirupati, one family that arrived from China has been kept in isolation. A student from China, who came to Kakinada, has complained of sore throat but has no other symptoms such as fever and cough. He has been kept in an isolation ward there,” Dr. Rambabu said.
Symptomatic treatment
“There is no specific drug, or specific treatment for nCoV till date. Only symptomatic treatment is being given to the patients. However, research is on and a drug may be found soon,” Dr. Rambabu said, and appealed to the people not to believe in rumours that there was a drug to cure the virus.
