Breaking news: Vigil along India-Nepal border in West Bengal strengthened after confirmed coronavirus case in Nepal

The Union Ministry of Health on Monday strengthened the vigil along the India-Nepal border at the entry point in Panitanki, West Bengal after a confirmed case coronavirus in Nepal. The death toll due to the coronavirus has sharply increased in China to 80 with 2,744 confirmed cases. 

A Nepali student home from China tested positive for the new coronavirus, an official in Kathmandu said on January 24, making it the first confirmed case in the Himalayan nation. "One patient tested positive for coronavirus. He is a Nepali student studying in China," Mahendra Shrestha, a Nepal Health Ministry spokesperson, told news agency told Reuters.

The student had come home on holiday from Wuhan in China, a ministry of health statement had said. He is being kept under surveillance and those in close contact with him were being investigated. The ministry had said that it was seeking health information from all passengers travelling from China into Nepal.

Along with West Bengal, there will also be an intensive screening of people along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttarakhand to deal with the menace of the coronavirus. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on this subject on January 25. Harsh Vardhan had told the Chief Minister, "Arrangements are being made for screening people coming to India through Nepal border adjoining Uttarakhand. Apart from the screening, the Health Ministry will immediately provide all possible assistance to the state."

The confirmed cases of pneumonia in China caused by the novel coronavirus officially described as 2019-nCoV included 461 patients who are in critical condition. Sunday saw 769 new confirmed cases, 3,806 new suspected cases and 24 deaths, all in Hubei province of which Wuhan is the provincial capital, the National Health Commission (NHC) said.

The NHC on Sunday said the new coronavirus is contagious even in its incubation period, which lasts up to 14 days, and that the virus' ability to spread is getting stronger.

The figures also showed that 17 confirmed cases had been reported in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, with eight in Hong Kong, five in Macao and four in Taiwan. Overseas, confirmed cases were reported in Thailand (7), Japan (3), South Korea (3), the United States (3), Vietnam (2), Singapore (4), Malaysia (3), Nepal (1), France (3) and Australia (4).

There are signs showing the virus is becoming more transmissible. These walking contagious agents' (hidden carriers) make controlling the outbreak a lot more difficult, a top official said. To curb the epidemic, China has decided to adopt a host of measures including delaying and reducing conferences and major events, extending the current Spring Festival holidays and supporting online work.