Lifting up Nipah virus high alert, Keralitees breathe a sigh of relief

Thiruvananthapuram, June 11: Finally the state of Kerala will breathe a sigh of relief as the deadly Nipah virus that struck Kozhikode last month and claimed 16 lives in Kerala has been finally controlled. Now the state can once again come back to being normal.

Addressing the media, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja mentioned that the last two positive cases have fully recovered and the high alert backdrop on the state will be finally taken off. The virus struck at Kozhikode which saw 13 people dying, while three deaths were reported from nearby Malappuram district, and more than 2,000 patients with fever were kept under close observation.

 

The state health minister stated that the spread of the virus has finally been contained and the scare is finally over. She said, “We visited the two Nipah positive patients who have been completely cured and according to many, this is something rare. The scare of this getting spread is finally over, as no more patients have tested positive, but a caution has to be there who are under observation, as they have to take complete rest.”

The district authorities, following the scare, had asked to wait for schools to reopen in the new academic year and now schools all set to open from Tuesday onwards while the ban of public functions also has been lifted.

 

However, the Kerala government has asked travelers to avoid visiting the four districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad, and Kannur as a precautionary measure. As many as 2,649 people were in the contact list, which has now come down to 1,430.

 

The minister also said that the expert cell, opened to monitor the day-to-day situation here, would be closed on June 15, but the district collector and the district medical officer would continue the coordination in this regard.

Lauding the services by doctors, nurses, and paramedics who played a vital role in bringing the situation under control, the minister said the government would organize a function to felicitate them.