The 28-year old male patient, who was admitted to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on Monday, has been tested negative for coronovirus.
“A male resident of Mohali was admitted to Communicable Diseases ward (Isolation ward) at PGIMER on January 27. His throat swab sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune has BEEN tested negative for 2019 novel Coronavirus,” the PGIMER stated in a statement.
He is stable and planned to be discharged, the PGIMER stated.
The Mohali resident had visited China from January 16 to January 22 and was admitted to PGIMER with symptoms like coronavirus.
Notably, the deadly virus has claimed more than 100 lives in China so far.
Coronavirus is a large family of viruses with some causing common ailments such as cold and others leading to chronic diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The main symptoms of the virus infection include severe fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, congestion in nose and throat.
A day before, PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram had written letters to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh asking them to follow the Government of India guidelines in case coronavirus is suspected.
He had asked neighbouring states to keep suspected patients of coronavirus in isolation and refrain from referring them to the PGIMER.
PGIMER has a daily footfall of around 10000 patients, a majority of which comes from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.