The third novel coronavirus case has been reported in India, with another Keralite student who returned from Wuhan University on Monday testing positive for the infection.
The medical student is in an isolation ward at Kanhangad district hospital in Kasaragod, state health minister K. K. Shailaja told the Kerala Assembly. “The condition of the student is stable,” she said.
Out of the 104 samples tested till Sunday, three have tested positive. This is the third positive case reported from Kerala.
Two earlier positive cases, also of students who came back from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, were reported from Thrissur and Alapuzha districts.
As many as 1,999 people, who have a travel history from China and other affected countries, are under observation in Kerala. Of them, 75 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.
The remaining 1,924 are under home quarantine as per a medical bulletin issued on Sunday night.
The minister has made it clear that those under observation at home should keep away from public functions or go out of their homes during the 28 day incubation period.
China needs medical masks
China on Monday said it “urgently needs” protective medical equipment as the death toll in the country from a highly contagious coronavirus passed that of the 2002 SARS crisis, with more than 17,000 infected.
AFP reported from Beijing that fears of the virus have spurred people in the densely-populated country of 1.4 billion to stock up on single-use surgical masks, while frontline medical personnel at the centre of the outbreak have reported equipment shortages.
“What China urgently needs at present are medical masks, protective suits, and safety goggles,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told the media.
At full capacity, China's factories are only able to produce around 20 million masks a day, according to the ministry of industry. The foreign ministry said countries including South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan and Hungary have donated medical supplies.
Stocks tumble in China
The Shanghai Composite index tumbled nearly 8 per cent on Monday as Chinese regulators moved to stabilise markets jolted by a virus that has spread to more than 20 countries, slamming regional tourism and threatening global growth.
The outbreak of the virus in China has prompted governments around the world to step up surveillance and quarantine requirements as airlines cancel hundreds of flights, reports AP from Bangkok.
Millions of Chinese remained in lock-down as the number of people infected by the virus topped 17,000 as of Sunday night. It has killed more than 360 people, all but one in China.
The Shanghai benchmark dropped almost 9 per cent after markets opened after a week-long Lunar New Year holiday that was extended by three days. It was its worst day since August 2015, despite the central bank's effort to put billions of dollars of extra cash into the markets through short-term securities purchases.
Many analysts have dropped their forecasts for China, the world's second-largest economy, to near 5 per cent from earlier forecasts of 6 per cent economic growth for the year. With tens of millions of Chinese city dwellers ordered to mostly stay home, retailer and tourism-related businesses already are suffering.
