Rattled by the reports of around 22 Indians affected with Coronavirus (CoV) in China the state health department has alerted the chief medical officers of health (CMOHs) across districts to keep watch on suspects showing CoV-like symptoms in their respective areas.

Swasthya Bhaban, the health department headquarters at Salt Lake, has also directed the CMOHs to send suspected cases to the Infectious Disease (ID) Hospital at Beliaghata in the city for clinical observations.

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“CoV is less virulent than severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that had ravaged China in 2001. Considering the rapid spread of CoV this time in the same country we have alerted CMOHs to be watchful on viral infections and asked the health administration in districts to send patients showing symptoms of CoV to the ID Hospital,” said a senior officer of the public health wing at Swasthya Bhavan.

“National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune is the sole competent lab in the country where serological tests of this kind of viral disease like CoV are done. We will send the blood samples of CoV suspects to the NIV in Pune if required. So far, there is no report of CoV in our state,” the official said requesting anonymity.

“All arrangements including doctors, trained nurses and medicines are ready to provide supportive treatment if the airport authority in Kolkata refers any suspect having travel history in China to our hospital,” said Dr Anima Haldar, principal of the ID Hospital.

Two suspected CoV-affected patients have come to Mumbai from China so far, said Dr Haldar. Dr P Ravindran, director of the emergency medical relief (EMR) under the health ministry, did not comment on CoV when The Statesman contacted him this evening. Sources in the health department said that most of the 22 Indians affected by CoV in China are students.

Several agencies based in Kolkata and other cities in India send a large number of students to different universities in China for the undergraduate medical courses every year at cheaper fees as compared to private medical colleges across states in the country. The health department also plans to keep watch on these agencies in the state seeking to know about the number of students studying medical courses in China, sources said.

A separate ward at the ID Hospital has come up for the treatment of CoVaffected patients. The union ministry of health in Delhi has also sounded an alert asking all states to take precautionary measures if persons come to India with a travel history in China.

All international airports across states have been sensitised in this regard. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can cause a range of symptoms including a runny nose, cough, sore throat and fever. The viruses, which can cause substantial morbidity, usually spread through direct contact with an infected person.