New Delhi, February 23: Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday asked airports and airlines to screen passengers arriving in flights from Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia for novel coronavirus infection. Till date, only passengers arriving from six countries - China, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore- were being screened for COVID-19. Holi 2020: Did WHO and Indian Govt Warn Against Purchase of China-Made Colours and Gulaal Due to Coronavirus Outbreak? Here's a Fact-Check as Fake News Goes Viral.

In the circular, DGCA said, "In order to prevent spread of COVID 2019 disease in India, it has been decided to expand the universal screening of all passengers arriving in flights from Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia besides flights from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore." China's Coronavirus Outbreak: How Long Can the Deadly Virus Linger On Metal, Glass and Plastic Surfaces and Infect People?

ANI Tweet:

These steps are being taken by DGCA to prevent the spread of the respiratory virus. In India, three confirmed cases for COVID-19 has been reported so far. Three students of the Wuhan University, all natives of Kerala, have recovered from COVID-2019.

Till now, a total of 76,936 confirmed cases of the pathogen has been reported in China. The virus has killed at least 2,442 people as of Saturday. In Japan, 751 people are infected, while 556 positive cases have been reported in South Korea. In Malaysia and Vietnam have reported 22 and 16 positive cases respectively.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2020 03:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).