Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written a letter to Union External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar seeking his intervention to ensure proper medical care for nurses from the state who was contracted Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Vijayan wrote the letter following reports that nurses working at Jazeera Abha Al Hayath Hospital in Saudi Arabia have been identified as being infected with the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan tweeted that "Spoke to @CGIJeddah on Indian nurses quarantined at Al-Hayat Hospital, Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia due to Coronavirus threat."
"They are in touch with hospital management and Saudi foreign Ministry. Have asked our Consulate to provide all possible support. @MEAIndia @PMOIndia," he added.
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Kerala Health Department has also issued an alert following reports that more than 570 people were infected with the deadly virus which took the lives of 17 people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan so far.
Directions have been issued for screening passengers arriving at International Airports in Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur and Trivandrum in the state. Those who come from China must contact the District Medical Officer (DMO) for a proper medical check-up as part of precautionary measures taken to control the spread of the virus in the state, sources said.
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