Coronavirus Outbreak: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issues school advisory

As coronavirus cases are on a rise in India with 30 cases confirmed so far, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday issued a school advisory. The ministry took to Twitter and asked people to share it further. 

In the advisory, all the schools are advised to prevent from having any large gathering of students in their institutes. Along with it, any person who has travelled from the coronavirus affected countries is advised to be home-quarantined for 14 days. The advisory has also mentioned some respiratory and hand hygiene tips. All schools are advised to keep hand sanitizers in frequented spots.  

Read: Coronavirus: J&K High Court seeks Centre’s response on evacuation of students from Iran

UN releases fund

United Nations has released $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help fund global efforts to contain the novel coronavirus COVID-19. UN Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock announced the release of the fund after the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the alert to ‘very high’ - its top level of risk assessment

The UN funding has been released for the WHO and the UNICEF to help essential activities including monitoring the spread of the virus, investigating cases, and the operation of national laboratories. The WHO has called for $675 million in funding to combat the deadly virus. WHO Director-General said that the biggest concern is the countries with weaker health systems.

Read: J&k to set up data collection centres for tourists from Coronavirus-affected countries

Coronavirus outbreak

According to the latest reports, 42 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll to over 3,000. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan (the epicentre of the outbreak), other countries including Iran, Italy, Japan and the Philippines have also reported deaths related to novel coronavirus.

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread to several countries since December 2019. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19. 

Read: 'People need not be afraid, Govt making all efforts to tackle Coronavirus': Raj CM Gehlot

Read: Himachal Pradesh: 3 suspected cases of Coronavirus found in State says CM Jairam Thakur