India confirms third coronavirus case in Kerala

India on Monday confirmed its third coronavirus case, with another Kerala student being the target of the newly surfaced virus, who had a travel history from Wuhan, confirmed Indian authorities.

The medical student is in an isolation ward at a district hospital, said the Kerala’s Health Minister K K Shaila, adding that the patient's condition was stable.

The state’s health department has put 1,924 people under observation at their homes and 75 have been admitted to isolation wards in various hospitals. Till now, 104 samples of suspected cases have been sent for tests. Of these, 36 results have been received and three tested positive.

Two earlier positive cases, also of students who came back from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, were reported from different districts of Kerala.

A total of 1,999 people, who have a travel history from China and other affected countries, are under observation in Kerala, of whom 75 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.

“The remaining 1,924 are under home quarantine,” Times of India reported.

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The new strain of coronavirus, which originated in Hubei province in central China late last year, has so far killed more than 300 people amid more than 14,000 total reported cases. Globally, around 130 cases have been reported.

Several countries have put travel bans, with airlines cancelling flights to and from China and mass evacuations of citizens amid fear of a major pandemic, which could threaten exports and growth in the world’s second-biggest economy.

India evacuated 324 people from Wuhan on Saturday and have kept them under observation in the outskirts of New Delhi, a government statement said on Saturday.

India’s national carrier, Air India, has canceled its Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai flight until February 14.