7 coronavirus suspects in UP in isolation ward

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh now has its share of coronavirus suspects with six cases with high viral load detected in Agra and one in Lucknow, officials said on Tuesday.

The suspects in Agra are the ones who have come in contact with the COVID-19 patient from New Delhi which was reported on Monday.

The suspect in Lucknow has shown symptoms of the deadly virus and has recently returned from Dubai.

All the suspects have been kept in isolation. Their blood samples are being sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for tests.

The six suspects in Agra were identified through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) network.

Meanwhile, panic spread in Agra on Monday evening after one of the members of an Italian group of 20 tourists, who arrived here from Jaipur on Sunday night, tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur and was detained there.

Though the remaining 19 members of the group left for Delhi early on Monday, the news about one of their members having tested positive for the virus caused considerable concern among tour operators and hoteliers.

Agra chief medical officer Mukesh Kumar Vats said that their department received the information on Monday afternoon from Lucknow office and they immediately alerted all the officials concerned in the tourism industry.

According to him, by the time they identified the Italian group, they had left for Delhi by road. “We are trying to locate the tourist operator of that group,” he said.

Confirming the arrival of the 19 Italians, a senior executive of a well-known hotel chain said the group arrived at their hotel at 2 a.m on Monday and left for Delhi around 8 a.m. He said that before their departure, they had visited the Taj Mahal.

Meanwhile, two employees of a local shoe exporter, who returned from Italy recently, were also quarantined in the district hospital after they showed symptoms of fever.

In Lucknow, one person suspected of being infected with coronavirus has been admitted to the Lok Bandhu hospital.

The patient, identified as Rukhsar Khan, 32, is a resident of Rudauli in Ayodhya district and had recently returned from Dubai where he had gone in search of a job.

Medical in charge of Civil hospital, Dr D.S. Negi, said that the patient has been admitted to the isolation ward and all tests are being carried out to find out the status of his health.

IANS