Malappuram (Kerala), Jul 25 (PTI) Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Thursday said the test results of eight samples, from the contacts of the deceased 14-year-old boy who succumbed to Nipah virus recently, have returned negative.
The boy from Malappuram, who was undergoing treatment for Nipah infection at Kozhikode Medical College, died on July 21.
After attending the Nipah review meeting held at the Malappuram Collector's Conference Hall via online, George said till now 66 samples have returned negative results.
"However, two more people were admitted to hospitals and, with this, a total of eight are currently under treatment in Manjeri and Kozhikode medical colleges. As of now, there are 472 people in the contact list out of which 220 are under the high-risk category," the minister said in a statement.
She said the health workers have completed house visits at Pandikkad and Anakkayam panchayats.
The health department said a total of 27,908 houses were visited by health workers as part of fever surveys.
"Today alone, they have provided mental health assistance to 227 people," the minister said.
The health department also asked those who were discharged from the hospital to strictly undergo a 21 day isolation.
A Central team of health experts visited Malappuram on Wednesday to assess the situation. PTI RRT RRT KH