Coronavirus update: 18-year old who returned from UK is West Bengal's first case
Besides its first case, there are nearly 12,000 people who are currently under surveillance in the state
New Delhi: An 18-year-old man, who returned from the UK, has become West Bengal's first confirmed case of the novel Coronavirus infection, officially called Covid-19.
"One male aged 18 years who had returned from UK on 15th March has tested positive today. He is kept in isolation," the state government said in its latest update on Tuesday.
Besides its first case, there are nearly 12,000 people who are currently under surveillance in the state, while the 14-day period for 248 people has ended.
So far, out of the 70 samples that have been tested in the state, only this patient has tested positive.
With the state's first case, the total number of novel Coronavirus patients in India rose to 138. On Tuesday, around a dozen new cases were reported while a 63-year-old man had succumbed to it in Mumbai.
Among the 138 patients, 14 have recovered so far, while three have died. The other two deaths were in Karnataka and Delhi last week.
Since the outbreak started in China, over 190,000 people have contracted the infection, with more than 7,500 patients dying, according to John Hopkins University's live tracker for the disease.
The World Health Organization has declared the disease a pandemic and urged countries to test all suspected cases.
However, in India, testing so far is limited to patients with a travel history and symptomatic people who had come in contact with these patients.
The India government has said there is no evidence that the disease has spread at the community level, but has taken preventive steps for it like shutting down schools, places of social contact and certain border checkposts.
It has also advised people to maintain social distancing of 1-1.5 metres, and barred the entry of international passengers from countries.
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