Govt. issues travel advisory asking Indians to refrain from travel to Korea, Italy, Iran

GUWAHATI: Amid coronavirus threat, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has issued a travel advisory for Indian citizens.

"Indians are advised to refrain from non-essential travel to Republic of Korea, Iran and Italy. People coming from Republic of Korea, Iran and Italy or having such travel history since February 10, 2020 may be quarantined for 14 days on arrival to India," according to the advisory.

https://twitter.com/MoHFW_INDIA/status/1232567209727102976

The government had announced that India will be sending Indian Air Force's largest plane, C-17 Globemaster, to carry out the evacuation operations.

It is worth mentioning that 640 Indians have been evacuated due to coronavirus outbreak in China in a complex operation which was carried out with cooperation from Chinese authorities.

Meanwhile, WHO announced that to fight further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China and globally, and protect states with weaker health systems, the international community has launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020.

So far 75569 cases have been confirmed and 2239 deaths have occurred in China due to coronavirus.

"Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans," stated WHO.

Most common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing, said WHO.

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