The Paradip Port Trust has put restrictions on the crew members of seven cargo ships from disembarking in view of the Coronavirus scare.
Five people are currently under the scanner in the State as they recently returned from China, the epicentre of the virus. While one person has been admitted at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, four others have been advised home isolation. Officials are keeping a watch on the health conditions of the four people in home isolation.
Health department officials said the State is vulnerable to the novel coronavirus (nCoV) through two routes. The State has direct air connectivity with Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur while the other route is the Paradip Port.
Keeping in view the large number of ships coming to Paradip, the port authorities apprehend that crew members of the ships from China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore may have been exposed to nCoV. “Therefore, the crew members have been told to stay on the ships,” a senior port official said, adding that there is no restriction on loading and unloading of ships coming from China and the other three countries.
The official clarified that there is no restriction on crew members of ships from other countries as they can freely come down to the port township. “We have made elaborate screening of crew members from other countries at gate Number 4 itself. Persons showing signs of cold, cough or running nose are put to screening,” said Port Trust Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr Prahallad Panda.
He said a special isolation ward has been set up at the hospital to provide immediate treatment if required. “There has been no such suspected case of nCoV so far,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy took stock of the situation on Saturday and alerted all Chief District Medical Officers and asked them to submit daily reports on the situation at the ground.
Notably, the State Government has constituted a taskforce headed by the Special Secretary (Public Health) to handle the situation.
The Health Department has sent blood and swab samples of total four persons for test of the virus to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Sources said all the tests have been proved negative.