Thiruvananthapuram: Amid reports that a nurse from Kerala working in Saudi Arabia has tested positive for the new Coronavirus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday urged External Affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Gulf nation and ensure expert treatment.
Vijayan made the request in a letter to Jaishankar, a statement from the chief minister’s office said here.
Several reports on Thursday said a nurse from Ettumannur in Kottayam district, working at the Al Hayat hospital in Saudi Arabia, had tested positive for the virus which has killed 17 people in China so far.
At least 30 nurses from the state 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.
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 from the virus. The matter should be viewed seriously, Vijayan said in the letter.
Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, said he has spoken to the Consulate General of India in Saudi Arabia, asking them to provide all possible support to the quarantined nurses.
Spoke to @CGIJeddah on Indian nurses quarantined at Al-Hayat Hospital, Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia due to Corona virus threat.They are in touch with hospital management and Saudi foreign Ministry. Have asked our Consulate to provide all possible support. @MEAIndia @PMOIndia
— V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA)January 23, 2020
However, Health department sources here 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.
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.
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Source: News18