Coronavirus in Odisha: Tourist from France refused rides in Koraput

KORAPUT: Rumours of being infected by the novel coronavirus put a 70-year-old tourist from France in some trouble on Wednesday, with auto drivers refusing to ferry him from the railway station to his hotel.
The man arrived in Koraput from Bhubaneswar on the Hirakhand Express. After being refused by all the auto drivers he approached, he was offered a lift by the station superintendent of Koraput, Narendra Bhitaria.He took the tourist, not to his hotel, but straight to SLN Medical College and Hospital for a check-up.
However, the foreigner, who is himself a gynaecologist, was given the all-clear and asked to remain in his hotel room for 24 hours.
“The tourist was discharged from the hospital,” said Makarand Beuria, CDMO (Koraput). Beuria said the tourist had reached India on March 5 and was screened on his arrival in New Delhi. He was also kept under observation at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar for a day on March 16 and discharged on Tuesday.
“As the incubation period of Covid-19 virus is 15 days, and the man has already spent 14 days since arriving in India, we asked him to remain in his hotel room for an extra day,” he said.