Factcheck: Coronavirus case in Manipur not true, confirm officials

Imphal: Despite reports of a woman from Imphal in Manipur undergoing treatment after she was found with Novel Coronavirus aka 2019-nCov aka coronavirus-like symptoms, a senior health official has denied the news.

“The news reports are not true,” said Dr L Arke Singh, additional director for public health, Manipur.

His reaction came after several reports were doing the rounds on the Internet that a woman — identified as Moirangthem Roshini Devi of Thangmeiband Khomdram Selungba Leikai in Imphal — was admitted to the hospital after she was allegedly detected with coronavirus-like symptoms.

As per the reports, Roshini Devi had travelled to Hong Kong and had returned to Manipur on January 20 this year.

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Meanwhile, the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Hospital in Imphal has issued a letter to the Imphal West SP to direct the cyber crime branch to delete those pages reporting the presence of coronavirus in the hospital.

“Recently, in the Face Book/Whats App it was uploaded that Corona Virus infected patient is admitted and treated at RIMS Hospital, Imphal. Here, I will like to clarify that there is no Coronoa Virus infection in the RIMS Hospital [sic],” a letter signed by RIMS medical superintendent Prof Ch Arunkumar Singh said.

Meanwhile, the Manipur government has stepped up the screening of visitors at airports and check posts, especially along the areas bordering Myanmar, following the outbreak of the deadly disease in mainland China which may result in infiltration of the virus through the borders.

The Manipur health department has deputed medical officers along India-Myanmar border towns of Moreh and Behiang for screening of persons — both foreigners and Indians — travelling from China and adjacent countries for coronavirus-like symptoms.

On Wednesday, the death toll from the deadly coronavirus in China rose to 132 with nearly 1,500 new cases, as Japan said it flew citizens out of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

In India, state governments, including in the Northeast, have taken precautions to combat the outbreak even as several people — suspected of being affected by the coronavirus — have been kept under observation.