The coronavirus outbreak, which has triggered a global health scare, has alarmed health officials in India, following a spike in new cases being reported from various states over the past two weeks. As on March 9, a total of 43 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in India, with the latest patients including a three-year-old child in Kerala’s Ernakulam district and a 63-year-old woman in Jammu and Kashmir. A day earlier, five people tested positive for COVID-19 (the disease caused by novel coronavirus) in Kerala.
Kerala incidentally was also the first Indian state to report a positive coronavirus case on January 30. The patient was a student studying in China and had returned home on account of the Lunar New Year festivities.
In a span of four days, two other positive coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala, prompting the local government to declare a state emergency on February 3. These three patients were immediately put in isolation at state medical facilities and over 3,400 people who were suspected to have come in contact with them were put in quarantines and observed for coronavirus-related symptoms. Days later, the three positive cases were discharged following treatment.
Between February 3 and March 1, India saw a calm phase in regards to the global coronavirus outbreak as no new case was reported. But things have changed rapidly since then as between March 1 and March 9, 40 people have tested positive for COVID-19. These cases have been reported from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, J&K and Ladakh.
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