KOZHIKODE: The scare of the Nipah virus is gliding away. For neither deaths nor new cases were reported for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday. The authorities here, however, maintained people should remain alert till June 30.
According to officers, the number of patients admitted to the isolation ward at the Kozhikode Medical College is coming down. Director of Health Services Dr R L Saritha said, as on Tuesday, there are only seven patients. The department also availed 22 reports which are all negative. With this, a total of 262 test results were availed, of which 244 turned negative. Currently, 2,507 people are being monitored under the contact list.
Excise and Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan who attended the review meeting here told reporters the second wave of the Nipah infection is under control. “There wasn’t a fierce wave. It was so mild we can say there wasn’t a wave as such,” he said.
District Collector U V Jose said a mechanism has been implemented to monitor the system. “We are reviewing it strictly. We will initiate action against the local bodies which have failed to yield a desirable result,” he said. An all-party meeting will be held at the Collectorate Conference Hall on Sunday to review the ground reports.