Three more suspected new coronavirus cases found

Three more suspected cases of 2019-nCoV have been detected today from Kandy, Ratnapura and Negombo bringing the toll to eight while confirmed cases of the virus infection still remained at one, a senior medical source of the Government Epidemiology Unit said today.

Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige told the Daily Mirror that eight patients with high temperature are still to be tested for infection and are being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) today.

“There are 17 suspected Chinese and SrI Lankan nationals under medical observation at other hospitals island wide. The female Chinese national confirmed with infection from the 2019-nCoV is responding to treatment positively and is out of danger. Her condition is stable,” Dr. Ginige said.

He added that not a single Sri Lankan student who arrived from China has been sent to Diyatalawa camp for quarantine as speculated by certain media and all those who came back to the country from China have been sent home after medical check ups at the BIA.

Meanwhile, Chinese state media confirmed today that the number of people infected by a new form of coronavirus in the country has increased to more than 7,700, a total that surpasses the official cases tallied on the mainland during the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Then, SARS infected 5,237 people in mainland China and had a global death toll of almost 800. (Sandun A Jayasekera)