The 15 Kerala students who were standed in China’s Hubei province following the refusal by airlines to fly them out are now back in their homes after screening at the Kalamassery Medical College.
They landed at Kochi airport on Friday night in an Air Asia flight after they boarded a flight from China’s Kunming airport to Bangkok.
The students were originally supposed to fly to Singapore, but the airline on which they had booked their seats refused to fly them on the ground saying that only Singaporean citizens were allowed to take the flight. They, thus, were stranded at the airport and spent a harrowing time there without proper food and other comforts.
On arrival at the Kochi airport on Friday night, the affected students were directly taken to the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital in five sterilised ambulances and admitted to an isolation ward. Although their relatives had reached the airport, they were not allowed to meet the students.
As none of the students tested positive in the tests at the medical college, they were later allowed to return to their homes, where they will remain isolated as per the protocol stipulated by the state health authorities.
Meanwhile, the state health department has withdrawn the declaration of the virus attack as a state disaster following the investigation reports mostly showing negative results. Over 2,800 people are under observation and no new cases have been reported, Health Minister KK Shailaja said.
Three positive cases for the virus have been reported from Thrissur, Alappuzuha and Kasaragod districts. At least 2,826 people are under surveillance in the state as of Thursday, a press release quoting the minister said.
Of this, 2,743 are under home quarantine and 83 are in isolation wards of various hospitals, a press release quoting the minister said.
The samples of at least 263 people, who have shown minor symptoms for the virus, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology at Pune and results of 229 samples came out negative, according to the release.