Panaji:
Two Goa-based persons- a man who had travelled to Italy and Finland, and a woman who returned to the state from Dubai, were quarantined here on Wednesday for possible novel coronavirus exposure as they complained of cough and fever on their arrival.
Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told this to reporters here on Wednesday.
“A 27-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were admitted to isolation ward of the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) near here,” he said.
The woman was in Dubai from November 30, 2019. She left that city on March 8 and arrived in Goa, the minister said.
“She landed in Goa in an Air India flight. After she complained of cough and fever on Tuesday, she was quarantined,” he added.
According to Rane, the man had travelled to Italy and Finland last month and had come in contact with a coronavirus patient.
“He has been kept in an isolation ward of the GMCH in Panaji after he complained of cough and fever. The man, a native of Vasco town in South Goa, was working on a ship and returned to the coastal state two days back,” he said.
“He had come in contact with a coronavirus patient mid-February while he was working on a ship,” the minister said in a statement.
On Monday evening, samples of two foreign travellers, who were kept under observation at the GMCH for suspected novel coronavirus infection, had tested negative. They were subsequently discharged from the medical facility.
The state health department has kept 19 patients under home observation, as per the latest official information.
The Mormugao Port Trust in Goa has banned the entry of cruise vessels till March 31 in view of the novel coronavirus threat, a senior official earlier said.
