Chinese man in Greater Noida locks himself up thinking he has Coronavirus, tests negative

A Chinese national who was suspected to be infected with Coronavirus (Covid-19) on Thursday reportedly locked himself in his flat in Greater Noida. The authorities, however, said he has tested negative for the deadly virus.

The Chinese man is said to be an employee of mobile phone-maker Oppo. A panicked crowd of people gathered at the man's residential complex in Greater Noida Beta 2 police station area.

Gautam Budh Nagar Chief Medical Officer Anurag Bhargava said, "He has tested negative for Coronavirus".

On Wednesday, a Paytm employee in Gurugram was also tested positive for novel coronavirus, the company said in a statement.

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Paytm staff advised working from home

Paytm announced that it would be shutting its Gurgoan office for two days after a Paytm employee was tested positive for Coronavirus. The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Fintech company also announced that it had advised all its colleagues to work from home for a couple of days. Currently, efforts to sanitize the office are underway. The employee had allegedly returned from Italy recently.  

"One of our colleagues based out of Gurgaon office who recently returned from Italy has sadly been tested positive for Coronavirus. He is receiving appropriate treatment.

As a precautionary measure, we have suggested his team members to get health tests done immediately," said an employee of Paytm, quoted by News Agency ANI. 

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'Country initiated required preparedness against Coronavirus'

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Thursday presented a statement on the novel coronavirus outbreak, in the Rajya Sabha. Vardhan said that India has reported a total of 29 positive cases of the Coronavirus. He also mentioned that our country initiated required preparedness and action since January 17, much before the advice of the World Health Organisation.

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"In our country as on March 4 total of 29 positive cases have been reported so far, of these three cases were reported in Kerala earlier who have since recovered and have been discharged already.

Since the last three days, travel-related cases have increased in our country. The first one is from Delhi with a travel history to Italy. On from Telanga with travel history from Dubai and contact with a person from Singapore. Both are clinically stable." 

Authorities are increasing screenings at airports and border crossings, and urging citizens to avoid large crowds. 

A man from Ghaziabad with travel history to Iran tested positive for Coronavirus, taking the total number of positive cases of the virus in India stands at 30.

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