Coronavirus: Kerala student is India’s first positive case
The patient is in a stable condition and is being closely monitored, the government said.
India reported its first positive case of novel coronavirus infection on Thursday. The patient is a student at Wuhan University, and is now in isolation in a hospital in Kerala, the government said. The city of Wuhan in the central Chinese province of Hubei is the epicentre of the outbreak.
The patient is in a stable condition and is being closely monitored, the government said, without giving any further details. State Health Minister K Shailaja said the government was observing 806 cases. Ten of the people are in hospitals, and the rest are at home, News18 reported.
A number of people are under observation for possible infection. Three men kept in an isolation ward of RML Hospital in New Delhi have tested negative, PTI quoted a health ministry official as saying on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old man from Tripura has died of the Wuhan coronavirus in a hospital in Malaysia, his family has claimed. “My 23-year-old grandson had gone to Malaysia around two years ago,” Manir Hossain’s grandfather Abdul Rahim told ANI on Thursday. “We got a phone call from the Malaysian authorities on Wednesday morning, informing us of Hossain’s death due to coronavirus.”
The family is from the village of Purathal Rajnagar in Madhupur police station area. Hossain reportedly used to work in a restaurant. Rahim urged the government to make arrangements for bring back his grandson’s body.
The newly identified virus, which has killed 170 people in China, is believed to have originated late last year in a market in Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. The symptoms include fever, cough, shortness in breath and other breathing difficulties. In severe cases, the virus could also cause pneumonia, kidney failure, and even death.
China’s National Health Commission has said that apart from spreading through air, the virus is also passed through physical contact with infected persons. The virus’ incubation period is on average three to seven days, with the longest being 14 days.
India is putting passengers with travel history to China through thermal screening at 20 airports. Three men kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital here for possible exposure to novel coronavirus have tested negative, a health ministry official said on Thursday.