Two more Indians have tested positive for the coronavirus, now named COVID-19, at Kolkata’s Beliaghata Infectious Diseases Hospital, according to PTI reports.
The passengers had landed at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport from Bangkok.
The PTI report said that Himadri Barman was quarantined on Tuesday, and Nagendra Singh on Wednesday.
So far three people in Kolkata have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Anita Oraon had been quarantined earlier.
This comes even as health officials in China’s Hubei Province — the epicenter of the outbreak of a new coronavirus — reported the largest single-day infection rate to date on Thursday, identifying 14,840 new cases in the region and 242 more deaths.
Health experts have warned that the actual number of those affected by the virus could be much higher than that is being reported.
While India has issued a travel advisory to China, several flights between China and India have been cancelled.
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, meanwhile, claimed that India had stocked up on medicines and other requirements in case a situation like China arose in the country.
ANI quoted him as saying, “In the morning, Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya briefed me that his ministry has already stocked medicines and other necessary requirements if any untoward incident like China occurs here.”
New cases have continued to pop up around the globe. The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 1,018, and there are now 43,106 confirmed infections worldwide.
The United States reported its 14th case on Wednesday, saying a person evacuated from Wuhan to a military base near San Diego had tested positive for the virus.