2nd Kerala patient discharged from hospital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A student treated for the novel coronavirus in Kerala was discharged on Sunday after two consecutive test results returned negative, becoming India’s second patient to recover from the infection, health authorities said.

The patient from Kasaragod, one of the three positive cases of coronavirus detected in the country on their return from China, would, however, remain under home quarantine for ten days, the state health department said.

“Two consecutive results of the patient came negative and was then discharged this morning.

The patient will have to remain under home quarantine for ten more days,” a senior health official said.

More than 2,000 people are still under observation for the novel coronavirus in the state, which had accounted for all three positive cases in the country. Earlier on Thursday, a student from Alappuzha was discharged after his two consecutive samples sent for testing at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune turned out to be negative.

India’s first coronavirus case, a woman medico from Thrissur, is awaiting test results from Pune NIV after samples screened at the Alappuzha centre of the institute had returned negative last week. “We are waiting for the test result of the student admitted to Thrissur Medical College Hospital. Once the negative result is received, we can proceed to discharge,” the official said.

Both the discharged students, studying in a university in Wuhan, had earlier tested positive for the infection and were treated in isolation wards in Alappuzha and Kasaragod.