Kerala govt withdraws 'state disaster' status given to Coronavirus

New Delhi, Feb 07: The Kerala government has withdrawn 'state disaster' status given to Coronavirus. However, alert to be continued and health guidelines to be followed.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said,''Kerala withdraws 'state disaster' status given to Coronavirus. Alert to be continued and health guidelines to be followed.''

"The state disaster status was declared after 72 returnees were in Kerala from Wuhan in China of which three tested positive. About 67 have tested negative. The test results show that the close contacts of all those three confirmed cases are negative," she told reporters.

The Health Minister further said that in a big relief, in the second case of n-coronavirus admitted at Alappuzha Medical College, the repeat test result is negative. "But this has to be confirmed from NIV, Pune," she added.

Shailaja also said that a total of 3,014 suspected coronavirus cases are being monitored in various districts of the state. "Of these, 2,953 are under home quarantine and 61 in hospitals with symptoms. A total of 263 samples of suspected cases have been sent to National Institute Virology for examination. Of the 261 samples tested, all the results were negative," she said.

The death toll in China due to the novel coronavirus outbreak went up to 636, with 73 mortalities on Thursday, Chinese Health Officials have confirmed. Total confirmed cases have gone past 30,000, reports AFP.