Coronavirus: Nurse from Kerala working in Saudi Arabia first Indian to be infected

New Delhi, Jan 23: Amid the outbreak of dreadful Coronavirus in China, the first Indian to be infected by it, is a nurse working at a hospital in Saudi Arabia. As of now, the fatal Coronavirus has killed 17 people in China.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday urged External Affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Gulf nation and ensure expert treatment.

The Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan has stated that nearly 100 Indian nurses, mostly from Kerala have been tested and among them and one nurse was found infected by Coronavirus.

The Minister tweeted, "Affected nurse is being treated at Aseer National Hospital and is recovering well."

Kerala CM on the other side has made the request in a letter to Jaishankar in this regard. The government should get in touch with its counterpart in Saudi Arabia and take urgent steps including ensuring expert treatment and protection to those affected from the virus, as per PTI.

"The matter should be viewed seriously," Vijayan said in the letter.

The infected nurse hailed from Ettumannur in Kottayam district, of Kerala. She worked at the Al Hayat hospital in Saudi Arabia, had tested positive for the virus which has killed 17 people in China.

According to the reports, over 30 nurses from the state had also been kept under isolation at the hospital and they had taken care of a Filipino nurse who had tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, the State Health Minister K K Shyalaja has said those who have returned from China should inform district medical officers besides instructing officials to step up surveillance in all four airports Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur in the state.