Coronavirus Alert: Centre Reviews Preparedness, Kerala Declares State Disaster

The Union government is reviewing the preparedness of states in dealing with the novel Coronavirus, even as the Kerala government has declared the outbreak as a state-specific disaster. The state government has said that all its hospitals are fully equipped to deal with further cases of the deadly virus.

Apart from the three confirmed cases, results of 60 more samples of students who returned from China around the same time, are awaited. A total number of 2,239 patients are under watch in Kerala.

The three patients who have been quarantined, were confirmed positive in the districts of Alappuzha, Kasargod and Thrissur. They have been isolated and quarantined. All the three were travelling together from China and were students of the same university. They reached Kerala on the 24th of January and were shifted to the isolation ward two days later.

Others who travelled with them have been advised to be quarantined at home. In all, 84 people in Kerala have been quarantined.

Meanwhile, an individual suspected to have been infected with the novel Coronavirus has been admitted to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences in Hubli. He has been isolated and his blood sample sent to the laboratory at the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Eight students have been kept under observation in West Bengal.

The death toll from novel Coronavirus has reached 426 in China, overtaking the number of victims from the deadly SARS outbreak. Novel coronavirus is suspected to have infected 20,400 individuals across the world. A WHO team is scheduled to visit China later this week.

N95 masks are in short supply across the country or are overpriced. The government has also banned the export of N95 masks.