south

Updated: Feb 02, 2020 21:24 IST

Hours after the country airlifted the second batch of 323 people stranded in China on Sunday, second case of Coronavirus has been detected in Alappuzha, putting the state on high alert.

Three days ago, the country’s first coronavirus case was reported in Thrissur. Like the first patient, the second is also a medical student from Wuhan, who returned to India on January 24. His condition is stable, said state health minister K K Shailaja.

The minister assured people that there is no need to panic and the state will overcome the challenge like it did when nipah virus struck two years ago. Kerala had contained Nipah virus within two weeks, but failed to prevent the death of seventeen people.

“A special care is needed but there is no need to panic. Isolation is the best way to contain the secondary infection. Both cases are stable and they are responding well to treatment,” she said at a press conference in Kollam shortly after the Union Health Ministry confirmed the second case in Delhi after obtaining the report from the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

“The second patient is in an isolation ward in Alappuzha medical college hospital. A team of doctors are monitoring his health. We want people to avoid roaming around and talking to patients for the time being,” she said, adding that the virology centre in Alappuzha will start testing samples Monday onwards.

The minister also said the government would strictly enforce quarantine periods to prevent the virus from spreading. People who are on home quarantine have been asked not to come out for 28 days, she said.

“Life is important, not social functions or gatherings. The government will do everything to contain secondary infection,” she said after reaching Alappuzha.

She said she was not surprised by the two patients who tested positive. “Such a situation was expected as thousands of students from the state study in China,” she said, adding at least 1,800 people are under surveillance at homes across Kerala and 50 have been admitted to isolation wards.

There was no need of any stigma over coronavirus because it is like any other contagious viral outbreak, she said. However, the government will not lower its guard, she added. The minister also urged the Union health ministry to ensure that tests for Cornonavirus are carried out expeditiously and reports made available to the state as soon as possible.

The first patient, a woman, is in an isolation ward in the Thrissur medical college hospital and she is responding well to the treatment, said a medical bulletin. At least 64 persons who came in contact with the first patient have been quarantined.

At least 100 isolation wards have been opened in hospitals across the state. The government has decided to start awareness campaigns in all schools and control rooms have also been set up in all 14 districts.