Coronavirus:Over 3000 People Still Under Observation,says Govt

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 8 (PTI) A day after withdrawing the 'state calamity' warning in the wake of the novel cornavirus (nCov) scare, the Kerala government on Saturday said over 3,000 people are still under observation.

Of the 3,114 people under watch, 3,099 are under home quarantine and 45 in hospitals as they had minor symptoms of the virus, state health minister K K Shailaja said.

"Till now, 330 samples have been sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, of which 288 turned out to be negative. We are waiting for the rest of the results," the minister told reporters.

Though the 'state calamity' alert was withdrawn, the state has not lowered its guard and the (28-day) quarantine period would continue, she said.

The Kerala government had on Friday withdrawn the 'state calamity' warning, saying no new positive cases of infection had been detected over the last few days.

The Minister also said that two of the 72 people who had returned to the state from Wuhan, were from Tamil Nadu.

"Those who come from the affected areas will still have to report to health officials and remain home quarantined," Shailaja said.

The state had on February 3 declared the novel coronavirus epidemic as a "state calamity" after a third student tested positive for the infection.

India's all three positive coronavirus cases so far-- reported from Thrissur, Alappuzuha and Kasaragod districts-- are Keralite students, two of them medicos, of a university at Wuhan, the epicenter of the nCoV.

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