Agra, Feb 4 (IANS): Eighteen businessmen from the Taj city who returned from China in January are being monitored by the Uttar Pradesh Health Department.

The 18 men include shoe manufacturers who frequent China. Officials said all family members of the identified businessmen will be monitored for 28 days.

One female student in Etah, one student and a businessman in Firozabad, two students in Mainpuri who returned from China recently were also being constantly monitored.

Nationals of 21 countries coming to Agra will be monitored, according to the principal of SN Medical College, G.K. Aneja.

The state Health Department has sounded an alert and asked all health units, government hospitals to up the state of preparedness.

Till Tuesday, there have been three confirmed cases of the virus identified in Kerala in India.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 20,438 by the end of Monday, and a total of 425 people have died of the disease that broke out in the Wuhan city, which has been under a lockdown since the last week of January.