BY Rupesh Samant

Panaji, Jan 28: The first patient of suspected Coronavirus was kept at an isolation unit of Goa medical college and hospital (GMCH) near here on Tuesday.

A senior GMCH official said that the patient had travelled to China in the recent past and had complained of a sorethroat since his return from there.

“We admitted him in an isolation ward as a precautionary measure. His samples are sent to Pune for further tests to rule out the fear,” he said.

The authorities have kept confidentiality over the identity of the patient, who is admitted due to the suspicion.

State Health Department has formed a task force to deal with the possible threat from Coronoavirus.

On Sunday, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had said that he has given instructions to form a task force with immediate effect to monitor any cases of coronavirus in the state of Goa.

The coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illness ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes, but the virus in China is a novel strain and not seen before. It has killed 26 people so far, and has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).