Kerala confirmed a third case of novel coronavirus on Monday. The third patient—also a student who returned from Wuhan in China—is undergoing treatment at Kasargode’s Kanjangad, state health minister KK Shailaja said.
“At present, there are no medicines for this, like it was when the state wass dealing with Nipah and dengue. When we heard about the outbreak in Wuhan, we knew we had to take precautions as we had a good number of our students studying in China. We went forward based on the guidelines suggested by the World Health Organizations and ICMR. We are fully prepared to face the situation,” the minister said, Mathrubhumi quoted.
Kerala had sent 104 samples to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, of which three tested positive.
On Sunday, the state reported its second case of novel coronavirus with another person who had returned from China, testing positive for the infection. The patient had returned to Kerala on January 24, the Kerala government said.
India’s first novel coronavirus case was reported from Thrissur in Kerala on January 30, with a woman medical student testing positive for the infection.
The condition of both patients tested positive for the virus was ‘stable’ and not serious, officials said.
The National Institute of Virology in Alappuzha has received permission to begin testing samples, which is expected to help get faster results.