All int'l flights to be screened for COVID-19; 28 positive cases so far in India: Health minister

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday, March 4 said 28 positive cases of coronavirus have been detected so far in India and announced that all international flights and passengers will now have to undergo screening, and not just the 12 countries listed earlier.

Addressing the media, Vardhan said that if the Iranian government lent its support, a testing facility could be set up there as well. This will help bring back Indian citizens from Iran after a thorough screening, he said.

Vardhan also said that he met the Delhi health minister and civic body officials, and urged them to augment facilities of isolation wards in city hospitals.

Giving a breakup of those who tested positive for the virus, the minister said out of the total 28 COVID-19 cases in India, one person was from Delhi, six of his relatives in Agra, 16 Italians and their Indian driver, one in Telangana and the three earlier cases in Kerala.

He also said that so far, 5,89,000 people have been screened at airports, over 10 lakh screened at borders with Nepal and around 27,000 were currently under community surveillance.