Won't support statements of people with no knowledge of novel coronavirus: Health Minister over bizarre suggestions by some BJP leaders

In an interview to India Today Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Harsh Vardhan said agreed that such suggestions coming from people without the proper knowledge of the subject and for a virus that the entire world is trying to arrest should not be accepted.

"I would not support such statements and would like people to follow only some simple steps to prevent the virus from spreading," Harsh Vardhan was quoted as saying in the interview.

However, the health minister said that the panic over coronavirus in India is "neither justified nor necessary" as the government has been taking measures to prevent the virus from entering the country for over a month now.

"We started working towards preventing coronavirus from entering the country on January 17, two weeks before the WHO [World Health Organisation] declared the virus as an emergency of international concern," he said.

The Health Minister said that the fact that so far there are only five(later increased to six) confirmed novel coronavirus cases in a country of 1.35 billion people shows that the government has been able to contain the spread of the disease and there is no need to get panicky.

He urged the news channels to spread awareness about the disease and said simple precautions can help people remain safe from the infection.

"Simple precautions about hygiene such as washing hands, maintaining etiquettes while coughing, sneezing, and reporting to the concerned authorities if anyone has fever or sour throat, will keep you safe," Harsh Vardhan was quoted as saying in the interview.

Harsh Vardhan said the government is thoroughly prepared to deal with novel coronavirus with 15 laboratories sanctioned for the testing people suspected with the infection. A total of 19 more laboratories are going to start functioning by Wednesday, he added.

A laboratory with scientists and all necessary equipment has been set up in Iran to test the Indian nationals residing there to test them before they are brought to India. Vardhan said, India had urged Iran to help with the testing, but it expressed inability to provide such assistance.

"By now we have already screened over five lakh people at 21 airports and over 15,000 people at 12 major and 65 minor seaports," he said, adding that screening was being done since Jan 17. As many as 10 lakh people have been tested in Bihar, Bengal, Sikkim, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the states bordering Nepal.

"I think we have one of the best-integrated disease surveillance systems in the world now," Harsh Vardhan stressed.

He added that the health ministry is coordinating with the chief secretaries, health secretaries, DMs across the country and "every aspect of the disease, its prevention and its spread is being monitored at the highest level."