Coronavirus: All 6 samples from Noida test negative, say officials

Six people from Noida, including three children, whose samples were taken to check for coronavirus infection have tested negative, officials said on Wednesday.

The six have, however, been kept self-quarantined at their homes for the next 14 days and if symptoms for COVID-19 develop, they would be retested, the officials said.

Among those whose samples were taken on Tuesday were a couple and their 12-year-old son, and a woman and her two children, aged 12 and five, according to Noida Health department sources.

These six had come in contact with a Delhi-based man who has tested positive for the coronavirus infection during a party thrown by him on February 28.

"On the Coronavirus issue, samples taken from six contacts in Noida have tested negative but they will need to be under home quarantine for next 14 days and if symptoms develop, can be retested again," District Magistrate B N Singh said in a statement.

He added the government and the administration were monitoring the situation, stressing that there was no need to panic.

"Administration has not given any school closure order," Singh said, a day after two schools suspended classes for a few days over the virus scare and news of other schools spread across Noida and Greater Noida also closing down.

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Noida Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Anuraag Bhargava said there was no need for anyone to be worried as the samples of the suspected virus carriers have tested negative.

"For precaution sake, people should ensure they wash their hands regularly and not touch their eyes, mouth or nose with dirty hands. If they have cough, fever or difficulty in breathing -- three symptoms of coronavirus, they must at once seek medical help," the CMO added.

Two Noida schools had on Tuesday announced their closure in messages sent to the parents, a day after the Union Health Ministry reported two fresh cases of coronavirus in the country -- one of them in Delhi.

One of the schools, where the infected Delhi man's son is a primary class student, said it will remain shut from March 4 to March 6. A Health Department team had later on Tuesday fumigated and sanitised the campus of the school.

The other school had suspended all classes till March 9 on its own, the officials said.

The possibility of a coronavirus outbreak had triggered wide-spread panic in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi, as hundreds of people rushed to pharmacies to buy safety masks and hand-sanitisers.

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