All 5 Suspected Coronavirus Cases Test Negative In Bengaluru

All five patients suspected of having being exposed to novel coronavirus were tested negative in Bengaluru, an official said on Wednesday, adding that there has been a sharp spike in the number of people visiting the hospital for check-ups.  

Out of the five people, two had come in close contact with the techie who was tested positive for the coronavirus, Dr C Nagaraj, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, said.

The man, a software engineer who works in Bengaluru, had visited Dubai last month on an official visit, where he is suspected to have contracted the virus.

The man reached Bengaluru on February 19-20 and later travelled to Hyderabad in a bus.

The doctor further said that the number of patients visiting the hospital has also seen a sharp spike, with more than 90 people turning up on Tuesday.

"After the techie came positive, we got so many patients who came on their own for checkups. Yesterday only, we saw about 97 patients. It was not so in earlier days," Dr Nagraj said.

The condition of the 24-year-old man, who tested positive for the coronavirus was stable and he was being treated in an isolated ward at the state-run Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad, the Telangana government had said on Monday.

India has reported 28 coronavirus cases so far. Of these, 25 cases were reported in the last three days, which includes 16 Italian tourists.

Three patients from Kerala have recovered.

Coronavirus, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives so far, originated in China first and spread to more than 60 countries later, AFP reports.

The novel coronavirus spreads through contact with droplets spread during coughing and sneezing, doctors say. Besides keeping contact to a minimum with an infected person, the preventive measures include frequent washing of hands and use of hand sanitisers.