'Kerala successful in containing spread of Coronavirus': State Health Minister KK Shailaja

After India's first 3 Coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala, the state's Health Minister on Friday announced that Kerala has been successful in containing the spread of the virus. "We can say that we have succeeded in the first part which is containing the virus. Three students who were found to be corona-positive were isolated, now they are stable. They were cured. From contact tracing to isolation and treatment, we have done everything in a systematic manner," said Shailaja.

"Even we wanted to declare that the corona fear is over, but we cannot do so. A total of 3,500 people were in quarantine. When they completed 28 days of quarantine, we released them from home quarantine. Now 135 people are under home quarantine," she added.

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The Health Minister also informed that the government has decided to observe strong precautions after the World Health Organisation's report stated that the dangerous virus is spreading across more countries.

"We are monitoring passengers from other countries for possible symptoms. One person from Malaysia came to Ernakulam airport. He had symptoms like sore throat, fever. We can't say that it is Coronavirus but we have kept the person in the isolation ward. Samples were sent to Virology Institute. I think his result will come tomorrow," she stated.

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COVID-19 has claimed over 2,000 lives globally

The deadly Coronavirus has so far spread to more than 45 other countries including the US, UK, Singapore, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and India. The infectious virus has so far claimed 2,800 lives in China alone, where the outbreak originated. It is considered to be one of the worst hit countries by the Coronavirus with more than 78,000 cases and over 2,700 fatalities.

The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak an international health emergency and stated that the global risk level remains high. 

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