Lucknow doctor diagnosed with Coronavirus days after Thermal screening at Mumbai airport

Mangalore Today News Network

Lucknow, Mar 12, 2020: An Indian-origin doctor with a travel history to Canada and the UK has tested positive for coronavirus in Lucknow, taking the number of confirmed cases in Uttar Pradesh to 10. The woman has been kept at an isolation ward at the city’s King George’s Medical College (KGMU) and her samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune for reconfirmation, sources told News18. The woman’s husband has tested negative for the virus, but has been kept under observation, Yahoo reported.

 

The 35-year-old woman’s test returned a positive result despite undergoing mandatory thermal screening at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, with reports suggesting that she did not display signs or symptoms of the virus at the time.

While details such as the name of the patient have not been released, reports have said that the woman is a doctor and had landed in Mumbai in a flight from Toronto via London on March 8. Health officials have prepared a list of 10 people came in contact with her since she returned to Lucknow and have said further tests will be conducted.

As per the data provided by the UP health department, 555 samples of suspected virus-infected people have been sent for testing to labs in KGMU Lucknow, NIV Pune, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Delhi and Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Varanasi. While a total of nine cases were found positive, 469 tested negative and reports of 77 samples are awaited.

The data also reveals around 15,903 patients have been screened at various airports, while 12,01,945 people have been screened at borders. The state government has also issued a helpline number for Coronavirus - 1800 180 5145.

The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on Thursday after the disease claimed 4,300 lives and infected more than 120,000 people across 107 countries and territories.