The Health Ministry tweeted today that as on January 27, all 20 samples sent to NIV for testing have turned out to be negative for novel coronavirus.

In tweet sent out at 12.41 pm today (January 28), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that as on January 27, all 20 samples taken from people who have returned from China and referred to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology for testing have turned out to be negative for the novel coronavirus.

Sixty-six cases have been reported from 17 countries/regions, in addition to the 4,515 cases reported from mainland China as on Tuesday morning. Of the 4,515 cases, 976 are severe. There have been 106 deaths so far.

As on January 27 morning, there were only 2,744 cases and 80 deaths reported from mainland China.

With eight cases each, Thailand and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have the most number of cases followed by Macau at seven. Australia, Singapore, the U.S, and Taiwan have five cases each. Malaysia, Japan and South Korea have reported four cases each, while France has reported three cases. Canada and Vietnam have reported two cases each. German, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Cambodia have reported one case each.