19 KERALA NURSES are quarantined
First known case of Indian contracting coronavirus surfaces in Saudi Arabia
Anurse from Kerala, working in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, is understood to be infected with the coronavirus. She is the first Indian known to have contracted the fastspreading virus, which originated in China and spread to other countries.
Not just her, at least 29 others are suspected to have contracted the virus. Nineteen of them have been quarantined. Ten others are still awaiting attention from local authorities, forcing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to write to the External Affairs Ministry requesting prompt action.
“The coronavirus outbreak among nurses in Azir Aba Al Hayat hospital in Saudi Arabia should be taken seriously and necessary steps must be taken," Vijayan on Thursday wrote to Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, requesting him to communicate with the authorities in Saudi Arabia.
Kerala sends the largest number of nurses to the Gulf region. Many of them want to come back, but the state has shown reluctance to accept them as there is no proper infrastructure in Kerala to tackle the virus.
The nurse who contracted the coronavirus hails from Ettumanoor in Kottayam. Sources say she possibly got infected when she was taking care of her Filipino colleague, the first person to be diagnosed with the virus in the hospital. The 19 others who are under observation are awaiting their blood test results.
However, according to Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, about 100 Indian nurses, mostly from Kerala, have been tested and none, except one, was found to be infected.
"The affected nurse is being treated at Aseer National Hospital and is recovering," he tweeted. Muraleedharan also said that he spoke to authorities about Indian nurses quarantined at the Al-Hayat Hospital.
A few nurses have sent an SOS to the state government alleging that the authorities are trying to down play the incidence.
Kerala has just come out of the fear of the deadly Nipah virus and the threat of coronavirus is something that it wants to avoid. It has upped the vigil at all international airports in the state and all passengers from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are being screened.
While no cases have been detected in India, over 12,800 passengers from 60 flights have been screened so far at seven airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, according to the Union Health Ministry.