Nipah scare: Kerala health minister Shailaja meets Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

Agencies
June 7, 2019

New Delhi, Jun 7: Amid Nipah virus scare, Kerala health minister K K Shailaja on Friday met Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to discuss the status and the administration's preparedness for containment and management of the potentially deadly infection.

Vardhan, who is regularly reviewing the public health measures put in place in Kerala, assured her of all support from the Centre. "I am here to meet Dr Vardhan who has taken charge of the Health ministry and also update him about the status and the state's preparedness to prevent the spread of the virus," Shailaja told PTI.

She further said that the condition of a 21-year-old college student, who was diagnosed with Nipah infection, is stable and a total of 314 people who were in touch with the infected person have been kept under observation. "There have been no new cases," she said.

The Nipah virus had claimed 17 lives in the state in May last year. The Union Health Ministry has already deployed a six-member team comprising an epidemiologist and ICMR experts to conduct contact tracing for early detection of suspects and review of isolation facilities.  

Meanwhile, blood and serum samples of all seven suspected patients who were admitted to a quarantine facility at the Government Medical College in Kerala's Ernakulam district have tested negative for the virus.

A designated control room has been established at the district collector's office and an isolation ward established at the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, while isolation facilities have also been ensured at medical colleges at Calicut, Thrissur and Kottayam.

All healthcare facilities have been asked to ensure high index of suspicion in cases with similar symptoms and also ensure availability of isolation and emergency management facilities before referral.

According to the World Health Organisation, Nipah virus is a newly emerging disease that can be transmitted from its reservoir (natural wildlife host), the flying foxes (fruit bats), to both animals and humans. Symptoms range from asymptomatic infection, acute respiratory infection and encephalitis. Infected people initially develop influenza-like symptoms of fever, headache, vomiting and sore throat. This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis.

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: Overwhelmed by the donations that poured in from the society for his help, Phool Mia, the fruit seller in north Delhi's Jagatpuri area whose mangoes were looted by the ordinary people, said that those who helped him have made his "Eid" and have shown that "humanity is still alive".

Video footage that went viral on social media, shows that scores of passers-by looted the unattended crates of mangoes of a fruit seller after a fight broke out in the neighbourhood. The incident took place on Wednesday.

"My stock of mangoes worth Rs 30,000 was kept there. Some persons were fighting with each other fearing which I left the place to avoid any sort of altercation. When I returned, I saw that they were looting the mangoes kept there. There were 50-100 people who were involved in this act," Phool Mia, narrated the ordeal.

"A video got viral about the incident after which people donated to me on a portal. They empathised with me when I was ruined. I thank the media and all those people who have donated from the bottom of my heart as they made my Eid. Now, I would be able to celebrate Eid with my children. This shows humanity is still alive," he added.

However, four people have been arrested on the basis of video footage, Delhi Police said.

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News Network
March 19,2020

Attari, Mar 19: At least 29 Indians, who had gone to Dubai to watch a cricket match which was called off later, on Wednesday night returned to India through the land transit route of Attari-Wagah border here.

Earlier, when they entered India after being cleared by the Pakistan Immigration Authority, they were detained at Attari border, as they were not having requisite permission on their passport to return to India through Pakistan.

According to officials, they had earlier flown to Dubai from New Delhi to watch a Pakistan League Cricket match there.

The match, however, was aborted and they decided to return India via Pakistan. They took a flight to Pakistan and after landing there, they took land route to reach Attari-Wagah border.

All were cleared by Indian immigration authority after being allowed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Amritsar Civil Surgeon Dr Prabdeep Kaur Johal said that by 9.30 PM all the Indian nationals were not handed over to the medical team for checkup.

She said if anyone of them are found with any symptoms of the virus, they would be admitted to Amritsar Government Hospital or else they would be allowed to continue their journey to Delhi or elsewhere.

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News Network
April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: With 1,429 more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's count of coronavirus cases has reached 24,506, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

Out of these, 18,668 patients are active cases and 5063 cases have been cured, discharged, or migrated.

The death toll stands at 775, with as many as 57 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

According to the morning update by the ministry, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit State with 6,817 cases of which 840 patients have recovered and 301 patients have died.

Gujarat now stands in the second spot with 2,815 cases, of which 265 have recovered and 127 people have died. Meanwhile, Delhi's count stands at 2,514 of which 857 patients have recovered, while 53 patients have lost their lives.

Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 figure stands at 1,755 with 866 patients recovered and 22 fatalities. Rajasthan has reported 2,034 cases of which 230 have recovered and 27 patients are dead.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 1,852 positive cases so far of which 210 patients have recovered and 92 patients have lost their lives due to the virus. In Uttar Pradesh, as many as 1,621 people have confirmed COVID-19, of which 247 recovered and 25 people have succumbed to it.

In Kerala, which reported the country's first COVID-19 case, 450 people have been detected positive for coronavirus.

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