Much to the relief of the health authorities here, the first patient in the country to be affected by the deadly coronavirus is recovering well and her samples that were sent to the Kerala unit of National Institute of Virology (NIV) have tested negative.
Health officials are awaiting test reports from NIV, Pune. At present, the medical student, who recently returned from Wuhan in China, is being treated at the Thrissur Medical College in an isolation ward after testing positive for the coronavirus on January 30. Her condition was “stable”, they said.
In Kerala as of now, 34 people are in isolation wards across various hospitals in the State.
“The blood test result of the first patient from Thrissur, from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) testing centre at Alappuzha, shows a negative result. But we need confirmation from the NIV at Pune,” said a senior medical officer from the Kerala Government.
After the first positive case was reported from Thrissur, two other Keralite students from Wuhan had tested positive in Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts.
“A total of 3,252 are still under observation across the State, of which 3,218 are under home quarantine,” said a release issued by the Health Department which has sent at least 345 samples for testing at the NIV Pune and so far 326 results have returned negative.
With various fake news on coronavirus doing the rounds, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said “fear psychosis” is being created over the pathogen and dismissed the suggestion that migratory birds could be the reason behind its spread.
Speaking ahead of the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) of wild animals, to be held next week in Gujarat, Javadekar said there was no relation between migratory birds and the virus.
“Let’s not create a fear psychosis on the subject. There is no connection of coronavirus with migratory birds. As far as diseases or viruses from birds and animals are concerned, the conference will discuss these issues,” he said.
The Union Health Ministry has screened over 1.97 lakh passengers travelling in 1,818 flights for coronavirus as a precautionary measure. Issuing a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Vardhan said screening of passengers has been initiated at 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers and crew members coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic.
In view of a confirmed case in Nepal, the Government has initiated screening at all integrated check posts from Nepal in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Land Port Authorities, the health minister said.
China reported the outbreak of coronavirus on December 31, 2019. As of February 9, a total of 37,198 confirmed cases and 811 deaths have been reported in China. A total of 354 confirmed cases have been reported outside China from 27 countries (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).