5 isolated patients not infected with coronavirus: IEDCR
"All the patients kept in the isolation units are now in good health"
Five local and foreign nationals, who were admitted in isolation units of different hospitals in the country, have been declared free of coronavirus after further test by Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
"All the patients kept in the isolation units are now in good health," said IEDCR Director Professor Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora.
"Though no coronavirus infections have so far been detected in the country, we have to be prepared with all necessary measures to battle the virus," she added.
Earlier, IEDCR has urged private hospitals to set up separate coronavirus unit as a precaution and requested hospital authorities to inform IEDCR about foreign nationals' arrival.
IEDCR also advised people to avoid close personal contacts such as touching, hugging and shaking hands to prevent the coronavirus spread in the country.
The coronavirus, believed to have originated late last year in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife, has spread to Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as at least 60 countries across the globe.
Globally, at least 93,210 people have been diagnosed with the virus and the death toll reached to 3,203 as of March 04, 2020.