'Kerala awaits test reports to confirm new Coronavirus case': State Health Min Shailaja

After Kera reported its second positive case of Coronavirus on Sunday, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja addressed a media briefing and said that the patient has been admitted to Alappuzha Medical College and is currently undergoing treatment in an isolated ward.

Adding further to her statement, KK Shailaja stated that the government and the health department are awaiting test reports from the National Institute of Virology, Pune. She further said that confirmation can be given only after receiving the report. 

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Kerala reports second Coronavirus case 

Earlier on Sunday, India reported its second case of the novel coronavirus. As per the officials, The infected person from Kerala has a travel history to China and has been tested positive.

"The patient has tested positive for novel coronavirus and is in isolation in a hospital," the health ministry had said. India's first novel coronavirus case in India was also reported from Kerala.

READ | India reports second case of Coronavirus from Kerala

Evacuation amid pandemic fears

The government of India have started evacuating its citizens from China with its first Air Inda flight bringing back 324 citizens on Saturday. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Turkey, Germany had also evacuated its citizens on Saturday. Multiple countries across the world have not only started evacuating it's citizens from the country but have also started imposing travel restrictions for Chinese nationals and those coming from the country. Countries such as Russia, Australia, and the US have imposed a travel ban and have also closed borders for those coming from China.

READ | Coronavirus death toll crosses 300 in China with 45 new fatalities

Global health emergency

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now declared the coronavirus outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). After the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the committee acknowledged that human-to-human transmission has occurred outside Wuhan and China. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated the Chinese government for the ‘extraordinary measures’ it took to contain the virus, despite the severe social and economic impact those measures are having on the Chinese people. “We don’t know what sort of damage this coronavirus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility," said Ghebreyesus during the press conference after the meeting.

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(With inputs from ANI / PTI)