An emergency has been declared in the southern state of Kerala after it was confirmed on Monday that a third person had contracted China's deadly coronavirus. All three confirmed cases in India have so far been detected in students returning home to the state from the Chinese city of Wuhan. At least 2,000 other Indians have now been quarantined across the country in hospitals or in their homes after displaying symptoms of the virus. Kerala's Government described the outbreak as a “state calamity” and said it would implement strict measures to stop the virus spreading further. All three patients are said to be in a stable condition and are receiving treatment in the Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts.

Coronaviruses are found in animals but they can also mutate to infect humans. This novel coronavirus – dubbed 2019-nCoV by health experts – is thought to have originated at a seafood market in Wuhan where wildlife is also traded. It has since spread person-to-person throughout China and to more than 20 countries internationally. The United Kingdom registered its first two cases on Friday in two Chinese tourists who reported feeling unwell in York. So far, more than 17,350 people have been infected worldwide and at least 360 people have died. At about 2 per cent, the fatality rate of this coronavirus is lower than the previous Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) coronavirus outbreaks.

However, this did not stop the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the virus a public health emergency on Friday. This is largely over fears it could spread unhindered if infections take hold in a poorly prepared, densely populated developing country – as they now threaten to do in India. The WHO has advised people to reduce their risk of exposure by frequently cleaning their hands and avoiding close contact with anyone with a fever or cough. It has also advised against visiting live animal markets in areas with infections and from consuming raw or undercooked animal products. The Indian Government faced criticism after officially advising homeopathy and ayurvedic, plant-based remedies to effectively treat the disease.

These included drinking an arsenic-based solution which is toxic when consumed long-term and putting drops of sesame seed oil inside your nose. “The number of Indian lives saved by homeopathy from the coronavirus will be exactly the same as lives saved by homeopathy from HIV,” said Oomen Kurien, the Head of the Observer Research Foundation’s Health Initiative. “False claims without any clinical data and endangering the lives of those who are at risk of infection,” tweeted Dr Sumaiya Shaikh, an Australian neuroscientist.