Coronavirus: India Reports Second Positive Case In Kerala

New Delhi: The country’s second case of coronavirus has been reported in Kerala, Union Health Ministry said on Sunday morning.

“Second positive case of novel coronavirus patient has been reported in Kerala. The patient has a travel history from China. The patient is stable and is being closely monitored,” the ministry said in a statement. The patient is said to have returned from China on January 24.

The announcement of the new case came just three days after the southern state reported India’s first case of the infectious disease that has killed over 300 people in China.

On Thursday, Kerala had reported that a medical student studying in China’s Wuhan city, the epicentre of the outbreak, had tested positive. She was quarantined at a hospital in Thrissur after she “self-reported” throat infection.

Over 1,700 people are under surveillance at their homes in Kerala for possible exposure to the virus. As many as 70 people are being monitored in isolation wards across the state.

The Union Health Ministry has also asked people who have a travel history to China since January 1 to report at the nearest health facility if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough or breathing trouble.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China and spread to more than 20 countries across the world in the last few weeks, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation.