THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after Monkeypox was confirmed in a UAE-returnee, the health department on Friday issued special alerts for five districts, including Kollam, the native district of the patient.
The move comes after it was found that 163 people, including 35 Kollam natives and those hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts, had travelled with the patient on the Sharjah-Thiruvananthapuram IndiGo flight (6E 1402) that landed here at 5pm on July 12.
“All of them will be monitored for symptoms such as fever. They will be tested for Covid and Monkeypox depending on the symptoms,” said Health Minister Veena George after a high-level meeting that aimed to find out ways to contain the viral infection. She said directives had been issued to set up isolation wards in all districts and special arrangements will be made in medical colleges.
“Health workers will monitor the health of all the passengers until they complete the 21-day incubation period. All the districts have been asked to maintain vigil,” said Veena.
16 primary contacts, 11 classified ‘high-risk’
The minister has also ordered to strengthen surveillance at airports as more passengers may arrive from countries where MPX has been reported. “A state-level monitoring cell will also be operational,” she said.
As many as 11 passengers who sat near the patient in the flight have been put in the ‘high-risk’ contact list.
The patient was on seat number 30C. The flight also had six cabin crew.
Since MPX requires symptomatic surveillance only, the passengers and crew members have been asked to go for self-monitoring and alert health authorities if they develop symptoms within 21 days.
The department has started tracing the co-passengers with the help of the police. Officers in emigration clearance and baggage handlers will also be monitored, Veena said.
There are 16 people in the patient’s primary contact list. They include his parents, a taxi driver, an autorickshaw driver, a dermatologist who treated him in a private hospital in Kollam and the 11 co-passengers.
Meanwhile, Veena sounded a stern warning against those spreading misinformation. She has also asked the authorities concerned to spread awareness against the disease and train healthcare workers.