KOZHIKODE: After the three-week long grim battle against the deadly Nipah virus, the Health Department has managed to rein in the outbreak and the restrictions imposed here in its wake have been lifted, Health Minister K K Shylaja told reporters here on Sunday. She was speaking after taking stock at the all-party meeting convened at the Collectorate Conference Hall.
However, the minister asked the public not to lower the guard despite the experts’ advice on further outbreak of Nipah infections being highly unlikely. “The incubation period for the spread of the infection is over. But we will remain vigilant till June 30. All the restrictions imposed in Nipah’s wake have been lifted but people should indeed maintain self-discipline,” she said. She said the district administration was monitoring 2,649 persons in the contact list for the last couple of days. “We will be removing 1,219 people from the list as the incubation period has ended. The remaining 1,430 will be monitored carefully,” she said, hinting at the possibility of those under the scanner shrinking to 892 people by June 12. According to the Health Department, 16 of the 18 patients, who tested positive for the Nipah virus, are now dead. The samples of 317 persons, though, tested negative.
Patients to be discharged
The two patients - a nursing student and a Malappuram native- who are under treatment at the MCH here after they tested positive for Nipah infection, will be discharged from hospital in the coming days. Shylaja said the nursing student will be discharged on Monday and the other one hailing from Malappuram will be discharged on June 16. “They have now recovered completely. But they need rest. Both of them have been given directions,” she said. The officers visited the duo in the evening.
Feting officers
Minister Shylaja here said a public meeting will be held to felicitate the doctors and nurses who risked their lives while providing treatment to Nipah victims. “All of them worked as a team and they rendered selfless service. The government has decided to felicitate all of them at a grand public meeting to be held here and the date will be announced later,” she said.
Major decisions at the meet
The Nipah Cell functioning at Government Guest House here will operate only till June 15.
From June 15, the cell will function from the Collectorate.
The District Medical Officer and District Collector will oversee its functioning.
All elected representatives have been directed to hold constituency-level review meetings to allay the public’s fears. The meetings will be then held at the Corporation-level right down to the panchayat- level.
The MLAs from Kozhikode have offered 13 ventilators to the MCH and two ventilators to the Beach Hospital.
Educational Institutions will reopen on June 12. There are no restrictions on assembling but people must maintain self-discipline till June 30.
Medical College Chest Hospital will be developed into an isolation ward. Casualty will be renovated. Sophisticated laboratories will be set up at the Alappuzha and Kozhikode MCH. The Virology Institute will be established in Thiruvananthapuram.