India's Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan today said he has confined himself to self-quarantine at his residence in New Delhi but tested negative for coronavirus.

"I am at home quarantine after visiting (an) institute whose hospital later reported coronavirus case, I have tested negative," Muraleedharan said in a post on his twitter account this afternoon.

The minister had on March 14 attended a programme at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram where a doctor, who returned from Spain, tested positive for Covid-19, on March 15.

Some 76 staffers, including around 25 doctors, at the institute, who had interacted with the doctor, are also home quarantined.

Meanwhile, the Indian government today issued orders asking various ministries to discourage to the maximum extent the entry of visitors in government offices.

Also, all ministries have been asked to install thermal scanners at their buildings.