Wuhan-returned 406 Indians test negative; to be discharged today

New Delhi: All 406 people, who are housed at an ITBP quarantine facility here after being brought back from Wuhan, have tested negative for novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the latest sample examination and will be discharged in a phased manner beginning Monday, officials said.
The final samples of all the people quarantined at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility here were collected by a team of doctors on Friday.
The final coronavirus test reports of all 406 people have been found negative, an ITBP spokesperson said on Sunday.
All 406 persons are going to be discharged in a phased manner from Monday onwards based on the advisory issued by the Ministry of Health with due medical procedures and protocols, he said. The group includes seven Maldives citizens. There are seven children including an infant in the group.
A total of 650 people were brought back from Wuhan in China on February 1 and 2 in two 747 Boeing Air India aircraft after the outbreak of the nCoV in China. While 406 of these are being looked after at the ITBP facility, rest are at an Army centre at Manesar in Haryana.
The death toll from nCoV outbreak in China has climbed to 1,665 after 142 more people died, mostly in the worst-hit Hubei province. There have been 68,500 cases so far in the neighbouring country.
India has, so far, reported three confirmed cases of the virus, all in Kerala. (PTI)