Third corona case detected from Kerala, Govt declares 'State Calamity'

India reported a third novel coronavirus case on Monday with another Keralite student from Wuhan University in China testing positive for the infection as the Left from government declared the epidemic as a state calamityHours after the confirmation of the third coronavirus case from the state where over 2000 people are under watch at houses and hospitals Health Minister K K Shailaja said on the advice of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan it has been decided to declare the epidemic as a state calamityThe move was to take all necessary steps to ensure that the outbreak is effectively controlled she told reporters on Monday nightPrincipal Health Secretary Rajan Khobragade said with the declaration of the situation in Kerala as a calamity the entire state machinery will gear up to face the situation and medical officers on leave would have to report for dutyThe decision was taken at an apex committee meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority chaired by Chief Secretary Tom Jose Earlier in the day the Health Minister informed thestate assembly that a medical student becomes the third person to contract the virus and is an isolation ward at Kanhangad the district hospital in KasaragodTwo students including a woman medico from the state who studied in Wuhan in China had tested positive for the virus in Thrissur and Alappuzha in the last few daysThe health status of all three students who tested positive for the virus is satisfactory Shailaja saidTill date 2239 people who travelled from Corona affected countries have been identified and placed under surveillance in the state out of which 2155 are under home isolation and 84 have been admitted to isolation facilities she saidThe health department has identified 82 people who had come in contact with the three positive patientsAs many as 40 are from Thrissur and rest from other districts Some of them are in isolation others are inhome quarantine she saidComing down on those who had failed to report to authorities after returning from the virushit China where the epidemic has claimed over 360 lives so far she said this was dangerousThe Health Secretary said they have also requested the central government to cancel the annual training of district collectors at the training institute in MussoorieAs the coronavirus has been declared a state calamity the health department will not wait for any positive results to come out and all districts will initiate action with the same seriousnessShailaja said the health department has assigned 178 counsellors as part of its psychosocial service to talk to those under observation and to their familiesTill now around 372 people have been given counselling Those who remain under observation and home quarantine are doing a great job to society We should be thankful to them All the 2239 persons under observation came to us directly saying they came from China the minister saidEarlier in the assembly she said that as soon as the World Health Organisation WHO issued warning on the virus the state began to take precautionary measures on a warfootingThere were a lot of Keralites working and studying in China due to which stringent precautionary measures have been taken to contain the spread of the virus in the event of an infected person reaching the state she saidAirport and seaports were being continuously monitored and the passengers screened by health officials A medical bulletin issued on Monday night said so far samples of 140 people had been sent to the National Institute of Virology for testing out of which results of 46 came as negativeWhile three are positive the rest of the results are pending Authorities have confirmed that the health condition of all symptomatic persons under isolation in hospitals was stable the bulletin said Of the 2239 people under observation Malappuram district accounted for the maximum of 343 followed by Kozhikode 310 Ernakulam 297 and Kollam 201Meanwhile the parents of a fourthyear Keralite student of Wuhan University who returned to India on Saturday has requested the state government to shift their daughter to Kerala from a camp in Delhi Her father S Vijaykumar said he was anxious as his daughter was sharing a room with five people They share a toilet bathroom and mess he addedCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates