NEW DELHI: Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is in self quarantine in Thiruvananthapuram, as coronavirus cases in India crossed 129 with three deaths reported so far.

People familiar with the matter in Kerala said the minister had on 14 March attended a programme at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where a doctor tested positive for SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on 15 March.

The doctor had a history of travel to Spain, one of the current hotspots of COVID-19 outbreak.

“Last Saturday I had visited Research Div. of a Medical Institute, whose Hospital later reported a #COVID19 +ve case. As a measure of abundant precaution I am in home quarantine since then. Have tested negative for #COVID19. No to panic! Yes to precaution! #IndiaFightsCorona," the minister later posted on Twitter.

Some 70 odd staffers, including around 40 doctors, at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology who had interacted with the doctor are home quarantined.

Kerala has reported 27 cases of COVID-19 while three patients have recovered fully.

India has introduced sweeping measures to contain the spread of the contagion that has claimed more than 7,000 lives worldwide and caused countries to shut down borders in a bid to arrest the spread of the virus that has infected more than 182,000 people in 155 countries.

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