"Nine individuals on contact list for Nipah had negative results," says Kerala Health Minister Veena George

The minister was speaking after a Nipah review meeting was held in the Malappuram Collectorate Conference Hall in the evening.

This will include the test results of the parents of the child who died of Nipah and two people from Palakkad who are on the contact list. The test results of two people from Thiruvananthapuram, whose samples were collected from the contact list, will be available on Tuesday.

At present, 406 people are included in the contact list. 194 of them are in the high-risk category. 139 of those included in the high-risk category are healthcare workers. 15 people included in the contact list are admitted to various hospitals. Those whose results are negative and whose symptoms, including fever, are cured will be discharged. They should remain in isolation, as per protocol.

The Institute of Advanced Virology has confirmed that the variant of Nipah virus found in 2023 is the same as the virus found here. As a part of Nipah prevention, strong activities are being carried out at the field level. The health department staff visited 6642 houses in Pandikkad and Anakkayam grama panchayats. 3702 houses were visited in Pandikkad and 2940 houses in Anakayam. 331 fever cases were reported in Pandikkad and 108 cases in Anakayam. Of these, only four cases in Pandikkad are on the primary contact list. Their saliva has been collected for testing. In the last two days, the health department visited a total of 7239 houses. The deceased child's class had held a PTA meeting.

The minister said that Nipah prevention activities are going in the right direction. "Ensure that the isolation is done correctly. A meeting of representatives and officials, including MPs, MLAs, and the Zilla Panchayat President, was held today in connection with Nipah prevention. One supplementary allotment was conducted in the district following Nipah protocol. The allotment will continue the next day with the same restrictions," he added further.

The minister also requested that people wear masks and maintain social distance. "Polytechnic allotment will also be done like this. Pension mustering should not be done in Pandikkad and Anakkayam Gram Panchayats. Time will be extended for mustering here," said the minister. (ANI)