Schools in Ernakulam will re-open as usual on June 6 as the Nipah virus situation is under control, announced Ernakulam District Collector Mohammad Safirullah. Even before the first patient - a 23-year-old student - was confirmed to have contracted Nipah, the state Health Department had put in several protocol measures to ensure that there is no outbreak.
A high level meeting was held at the district collectorate on Wednesday to take stock of the situation.
The patient who is confirmed with Nipah virus is admitted in the isolation ward of a private hospital in Ernakulam. The patient had also visited two other hospitals in the district before getting admitted. Five other people who were in contact with the patient are also suspected to have symptoms of Nipah and their samples have been sent for testing to NIV labs in Alappuzha and Pune and to the Manipal laboratory.
The 5 suspected cases include 3 nurses, one student who studied with the patient and a person from Chalakudy in Thrissur who did not come in direct contact with the patient. All of them have been admitted to the isolation ward at Medical College, Kalamassery.
Speaking to media, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said, “The patient’s condition is stable. He has not recovered though. The treatment is continuing.”
As contact tracing continues, 311 people have been found to have been in direct or indirect contact with the patient. They are under observation. The 5 people suspected of having contracted the Nipah virus are not exhibiting severe symptoms of the virus, the Health Minister added.
On June 4, the Kerala government confirmed that 1 person had contracted the Nipah virus in the state. The 23-year-old patient is a student from Idukki who had travelled to Thrissur for an internship. The source of the outbreak has yet been untraced as the patient was shuttling between 3 districts - Idukki, Thrissur and Ernakulam.
The Nipah virus has been confirmed for the second time in Kerala. In May 2018, the virus broke out in the Perambra village in Kozhikode and went on to claim 17 lives.