By Sarah Hannan The Chinese national who was admitted to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH) on 27 January, after she was infected by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), has fully recovered, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe said. Dr. Jasinghe, sharing his observation over the only confirmed case of the 2019-nCoV reported in Sri Lanka, stated that while the woman was infected by the virus, her husband did not fall ill, nor did her driver or travel group. “Furthermore, even the staff at the hotels she stayed in had not been infected. The officials have confirmed that she has made a full recovery and there are no traces of 2019-nCoV in her system,” he said. While the speed of the virus spreading across the world seems to be alarming, Dr. Jasinghe informed that in comparison to other strains of the human coronavirus such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV), 2019-nCoV has a lesser virulence. “With the virus spreading to countries and territories outside Wuhan, China through the persons that were travelling from Wuhan, Sri Lanka too had to take necessary precautions. Health screening processes were implemented in airports and seaports. Apart from that, we have also requested people travelling to Sri Lanka to fill in a health declaration form. Upon arrival, the passengers are then subjected to thermal screening,” Dr. Jasinghe explained. He further stated that since the virus has an incubation period of 2-14 days, persons who have returned from China should be vigilant of the symptoms and when seeking medical attention, patients should inform the doctors about their travel history to effectively be treated. In addition, Dr. Jasinghe urged the general public to only heed the information disseminated through credible sources such as the Government Information Department website, the website of the Ministry of Health, and the website of the Epidemiology Unit.