More than 570 people have been infected with Novel Coronavirus virus across China | Photo Credit: AP

New Delhi/Riyadh: Amid the outbreak of deadly SARS-like Novel Coronavirus 2019 (nCoV) in China, an Indian national is reported to have tested positive for the disease in Saudi Arabia. Reports say a nurse from Kerala, working at the Al Hayat National Hospital in Abha, has contracted the virus which has killed at least 17 people so far in China.

While the nurse which has reportedly been infected with the virus hails from Ettumanoor in Kottayam, three other nurses from the Indian state have also been placed under observation in the Gulf country. All four nurses are being kept in an isolation ward of another hospital.

As per details available, the Kerala nurse possibly contracted the virus while caring for a nurse from the Philippines who had tested positive for Novel Coronavirus.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, meanwhile, has written to the Ministry of External Affairs, seeking intervention in coronavirus outbreak among Kerala nurses in Saudi Arabia. The Chief Minister has also requested the MEA to communicate with Saudi Arabia.

China locks down ‘ground zero’ Wuhan

China, meanwhile, has virtually locked down the city of Wuhan, from where the outbreak is believed to have started. The authorities in Wuhan, which is a major transport hub, have imposed a ban on trains and planes from exiting the city.

The authorities have also ordered the suspension of public buses and subways. Further, residents have been asked not to leave "without a special reason".

The move is an attempt to seal off the city’s 11 million residents so that the spread of the contagious disease could be contained.

It has now been confirmed that the cases reported about the human-to-human transmission of the virus were true. So far, China has confirmed 17 deaths with over 570 people infected. The virus has also spread to other countries, including South Korea, Japan, Thailand etc.

Authorities in Wuhan believe that a seafood market where wild animals are sold illegally triggered the outbreak of the virus.

There is an alarm over the spread of the coronavirus as it is similar to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the outbreak of which in 2002-03 killed nearly 650 people across China and Hong Kong.