International travellers showing monkeypox symptoms to be sent to LNJP Hospital from Delhi airport: Sources

As per the sources, the decision was made in a review meeting chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday.

The Delhi Government has urged district authorities and concerned officials to follow the Centre’s guidelines on management of the infection, stating that referral arrangements from airport/port to identified link hospital is to be established or reinforced.

The isolation unit at LNJP Hospital, which has a dedicated 20-member staff to care for such patients, is made for travellers at the IGI Airport exhibiting signs including a high fever, back discomfort and joint pain, according to the sources.

They added that the district administration would confine the family members and do contact tracing while sending the samples of the suspected patients to the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

“Reviewed the monkeypox situation in Delhi along with CS, Secy Health, DGHS & others concerned. Was apprised of preparedness in terms of medical services, hospital infrastructure, tracing, testing, surveillance & clinical management. Advised officials to ensure all preventive measures. I appeal to the people to not panic and follow all prescribed prevention and treatment protocols”, Saxena stated in a series of tweets.

An infected 34-year-old from west Delhi was the first monkeypox case to be reported in Delhi. He is currently being treated at the LNJP Hospital and needs at least a week to recover completely.

The sources added that no decision has yet been made regarding stepping up surveillance at the airport but that patients with potential Covid-19 symptoms are now being screened by airport health experts and that certain symptoms of the two illnesses are similar.

(With inputs from PTI)

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