Coronavirus: The Noida school has cancelled internal exams after the virus-scare.
A private school in Noida near Delhi will be shut for three days - from Wednesday to Friday - after the father of two children who study there was tested positive for coronavirus. The man, a 45-year-old resident of east Delhi, is the first person in the capital who has been tested positive for the virus that has infected more than 88,000 people across the globe and killed over 3,000.
The school has cancelled internal exams for high school students and its premises are being sanitised by the local health authorities after there was a sense of panic because the man came in contact with five families (that included students from the school) during a birthday party he hosted in Agra for one of his children last Friday. Six people among them have reported fever and their samples are being sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing for coronavirus. The five families and the family of the patient have been kept in isolation in their homes.
"These children have also been tested and as a precautionary measure have been quarantined for the next two weeks," the school administration said in a note to parents.
Health officials are also simultaneously tracing those who have come in contact with the six people.
Though the Noida school has not officially closed today, several parents took their children home today. Many have chosen not to send their children to the school today. The internal exams for Class 7 and above were cancelled as a precautionary measure, due to "certain unavoidable circumstances". "The Board exams will continue as normal. The children of classes 7-11 may come for extra classes if they wish. Class 6 and IGCSE classes continue with the study leave," the school said in its message to parents.
The Delhi-based patient has a travel history from Italy, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. Italy is among the countries that have emerged as a major spawning ground for the novel coronavirus. According to sources, he was not screened at the Delhi airport because he flew in from Austria's Vienna where the outbreak has not been declared serious.
The man is being treated at a hospital in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the crew of an Air India February 25 Vienna-Delhi in which he returned home has been asked to stay in isolation at their homes for 14 days. It's not yet clear if a similar advisory has been issued to the passengers.
"No need to panic. We need to work together, take small yet important measures to ensure self-protection," tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi who reviewed the situation.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an urgent meeting with Health Minister Satyendar Jain and other officials to take stock of the government's preparedness to deal with coronavirus.
The second case of coronavirus that the Union Health Ministry announced on Monday is of a 24-year-old software engineer who was tested positive in Hyderabad. The man works in Bengaluru and had travelled to Hyderabad last month.