Healthcare

Kerala nurse in Saudi Arabia tested positive for coronavirus, 30 more quarantined in hospital

Updated : January 24, 2020 12:08 AM IST

At least 30 nurses from Kerala had also been kept under isolation at the hospital and they had taken care of a Filipino nurse who had tested positive for the virus.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged union external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Gulf nation and ensure expert treatment for the nurses.

According to media reports, a nurse from Ettumannur in Kottayam district, working at the Al Hayat hospital in Saudi Arabia, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, which has killed 17 people in China.

At least 30 nurses from Kerala have also been kept under isolation at the hospital and they had taken care of a Filipino nurse who had tested positive for the virus, reports said.

However, health department sources in Thiruvananthapuram said they have no information about any nurses from the state having been affected. The department has issued an alert in the wake of the virus outbreak in China.

In Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged union external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Gulf nation and ensure expert treatment for the nurses.

Vijayan made the request in a letter to Jaishankar in this regard, a statement from the chief minister's office said in Thiruvananthapuram.

The government should get in touch with its counterpart in Saudi Arabia and take urgent steps including ensuring expert treatment and protection to those affected by the virus. The matter should be viewed seriously, Vijayan said in the letter.

State health minister KK Shyalaja has said those who have returned from China should inform district medical officers besides instructing officials to step up surveillance in all four airports-- Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur--in the state.

Kerala nurse in Saudi Arabia tested positive for coronavirus, 30 more quarantined in hospital

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