Pics: Prajwal Ukkuda
Daijiworld Media Network- Mangalore (RS/SP)
Mangalore, Aug 14: The district administration has issued directions to the concerned on Thursday August 13, to keep the students returning from a foreign country, in isolation for a week after their return, to look for the presence of H1N1 virus.
Speaking at a meeting of senior officials of the district administration, convened in the city to discuss the desirability of enforcing stricter measures to control the spread the H1N1 virus, Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner, V Ponnuraj, noted that the disease was first detected in the district in a student of foreign origin but not by among the native citizens. Therefore, those students, who travel to their home country, should be quarantined for a week on their return, to check whether they have contracted the H1N1 virus, he felt. The symptoms of swine flu can emerge in about a week after contracting the virus, as the virus has the tendency to develop in about a week’s time, he said.
The isolation helps the others to get protection from the risk of getting infected, he added. The isolation will apply only to those students who return after traveling abroad, and not to all the foreign students here, he asserted. The deputy commissioner also said that travellers to Mumbai and Pune also need to be screened for the presence of the said virus, as these cities have been identified as the secondary source. Therefore, screening becomes imperative at railway station too, he emphasized.
The district administration will soon set up a help line, to keep the disease in check and provide people the required information, he said, adding that the people need not panic about this disease, but advised them to take special precautions against getting infected with swine flu.
Ponnuraj directed his officials to issue showcase notices to the heads of institutions that did not participate in this meeting, even after giving them information that the issue is of paramount importance.
Some of the heads of institutions and travel agencies participated in the meeting.