Public health officials and partners are working hard to identify the source of the 2019-nCoV. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting the virus likely emerged from an animal source.

Current symptoms reported for patients with 2019-nCoV have included mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.

This virus probably originally emerged from an animal source but now seems to be spreading from person-to-person via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread.

If you have symptoms of acute respiratory infection, you should practice cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover cough and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing and wash hands).

• - Avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections
• - Wash hands frequently, especially if there is a direct contact with ill people or exposure to their environment
• - Avoid close contact with live or dead farm and wild animals
• - If you are visiting a live animal market, a wet market or any animal product market, practice general hygiene like regular hand washing with soap and potable water after touching animals and animal products.
• - Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with hands and avoid any contact with sick animals or spoiled animal products.
• - Avoid consuming raw or undercooked animal products and handle raw meat and milk with care.

If you develop symptoms seek medical advice immediately.

Currently, there is no vaccine available to protect against 2019-nCoV.

There is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for 2019-nCoV infection. People infected with 2019-nCoV should receive supportive care to help relieve symptoms.

At this time, diagnostic testing for 2019-nCoV can be conducted only at ICMR approved laboratories. For more information visit nearest Urban Health Center of your CITY.

At triage

• - Give suspect patient a surgical mask and direct patient to separate area, an isolation room if available.
• - Keep at least 1 meter distance between suspected patients and other patients.
• - Perform hand hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions

Isolation Precautions

• - In addition to standard precautions, droplet and contact precautions to be applied
• - Place patients in single rooms, or group together those with the same etiological diagnosis. Limit patient moments