Kolkata : Four persons have been kept in the isolation ward of Beliaghata ID Hospital in Kolkata over concerns that they may be infected with the novel coronavirus. Two of them were admitted on Monday and the rest last week. Three of the four had returned from China on January 23 by the same flight taken by a Kerala student who was India’s first positive case.

Blood and swab samples of one of the personss were sent to National Institute of Biosciences in Pune on Sunday, and those of two others to National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) in Kolkata. The reports are awaited.
A fourth person, who just returned from China, has got himself admitted to the hospital to check whether he is carrying the virus. The four have been kept under observation and their condition is said to be stable.

Hospital Superintendent Mrinmoy Ghosh told reporters, “Those who had returned to India on January 23 and had taken the same flight with Kerala’s first positive case have been kept under observation here. We have sent their samples for tests.”

The person who reached India on a different flight said, “I was not feeling well so I decided to get myself checked. I am pursuing research work in chemistry and travel to China for this. I came back to Kolkata after taking leave. As I have come from China, it is important that I get myself checked.”

Another person who returned to Kolkata from China’s southern province of Hunan and visited the hospital on Monday said, “I have come here as a precautionary measure to get myself checked. It is not possible to stay in isolation at home. Here I will be kept in isolation. So far, doctors have given me some guidelines which can be followed at home. I hope they will soon discharge me.”

Coronavirus has killed more than 360 people and infected over 17,000 others, mostly in China. The virus has spread to more than 25 countries.