Second case of coronavirus reported in Kerala

The first confirmed case, a medical student, of coronavirus was reported a few days ago

The Union Health Ministry on Sunday reported the second confirmed case of novel corona virus (2019-n-Cov) in a Kerala student, who had traveled to China.

“The second positive case of novel coronavirus patient has been reported in Kerala. The patient has a travel history from China. The patient has tested positive for novel coronavirus and is in isolation in the hospital. The patient is stable and is being closely monitored,” the ministry said in a statement.

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja Teacher said the patient was at the isolation ward of the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital in the last few days in a stable condition and hence there was no need to be scared. Health department sources said the second infected person was a 22-year-old male.

The condition of the first novel-coronavirus infected girl at the isolation ward of Thrissur medical college hospital, was also stable and there are no major health issues now, said the minister. Both the infected individuals traveled from China to India same time.

The minister said the state government was yet to officially receive the test result of the second case from the Pune-based National Institute of Virology in Pune that informed the administration over phone. The male student reached Kerala about a week back and was kept under isolation owing to some symptoms.

Shailaja said since a major chunk of Indian students in Wuhan were Malayalis, the state was maintaining a high vigil. All arriving from China are being screened.

As of now 1,793 persons are under surveillance in Kerala for novel coronavirus. Of this 70 were at isolation wards in hospitals and 1,723 under surveillance at their homes. So far samples from 59 persons with 2019-n-Cov symptoms were sent for testing at NIV, of which 35 are pending. Screening and medical observations are happening in other states too.

While the NIV authorities were urged to expedite the test results, a nod for conducting such tests at the virology lab at Alappuzha was expected, said the minister.

The second batch of 323 Indians stranded at Hubei province have been brought back on Sunday in a special Air India flight, along with seven Maldivians. All of them were sent to the Army and ITBP camps and kept under observation. In two batches, a total of 647 Indians were ferried to India from virus-hit Wuhan and nearby areas.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Beijing has stopped issuing visas to Chinese passport holders as well as others living in China.

The Union Health Ministry too asked the citizens not to travel to China as on return they could be kept in a quarantine. Because of the virus' nearly two week long incubation period, anyone with a travel history to China since January 15 could be kept under watch in isolation.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the preparedness and decided to expand the passenger screening programme at 21 airports to include those returning from Singapore and Thailand besides the individuals coming from China and Hong Kong.

Till Saturday, more than 58,500 passengers have been examined at the airports. As many as 130 samples have been tested by the NIV, out of which two are positive.