Kerala nurse in Saudi first Indian to be infected with coronavirus
The nurse from Kottayam, who works at Saudi's Al Hayat hospital, had contracted the virus while treating a Filipino patient who had tested positive for the virus. Soon, all the nurses who came in contact with her were isolated from the rest and put under observation. The nurses alleged they were quarantined with any tests.
A 38-year-old nurse from Kerala, who is working in a Saudi Arabia hospital, has been infected with the deadly coronavirus, which has claimed several lives in China. This is the first case of an Indian being infected with the virus.
The nurse from Kottayam, who works at Saudi’s Al Hayat hospital, had contracted the virus while treating a Filipino patient who had tested positive for the virus. Soon, all the nurses who came in contact with her were isolated from the rest and put under observation. The nurses alleged they were quarantined with any tests.
One of the nurses told a Malayalam news channel over the phone they were herded in two rooms of the hospital for more than a day, reports said. She claimed no tests were done and no treatment was provided to them. We have lodged a complaint with the Indian embassy officials, she said.
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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, urging him to take up the matter with the Gulf nation and ensure expert treatment of the victims. “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,” the letter read.
State Health Minister KK Shyalaja 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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Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in China has set up hotlines for assisting the Indians living in the Wuhan and Huanggang cities of China’s Hubei province. Chinese officials assured all assistance, including food supply, to the Indians who stayed put in the province, the Indian Embassy said in a press release on Thursday.
The novel coronavirus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is currently under lockdown with all urban transport networks shut. Trains and planes out of Wuhan were indefinitely suspended. So far, it has claimed 17 lives and affected nearly 550 people.
(With inputs from agencies)
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