Nipah fear continues to cripple Kozhikode
Streets wear a deserted look with people preferring to stay indoors rather than risk contracting the disease
Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly a fortnight after the Nipah virus hit Kerala and claimed 17 lives so far, the fear continues to cripple Kozhikode, the northern district most affected by the virus.
When schools opened in the state for a new academic year on Friday, Kozhikode remained an odd man out, with the reopening scheduled for next week.
Almost every business in the district has been affected by the situation, with streets wearing a deserted look because people prefer to keep indoors rather than risk contracting the disease by coming in contact with the public.
Fruit stalls have been particularly affected because of the fear that fruit bats are responsible for the spread of the disease, and the tourism sector has also been hit.
In the latest development, doctors and nursing staff at the taluk hospital in Balussery in Kozhikode district have been asked to go on leave. The move comes after the news that two persons who were under treatment at this hospital succumbed to Nipah.
Six doctors and eight nurses who were in charge of the treatment of the two Nipah-affected patients at this hospital have been given leave, and the other staff including support staff will go on leave on rotation basis.
The medical staff in this hospital has been under medical watch since news broke that the two Nipah-affected patients who underwent treatment at this hospital lost their lives. Authorities have made alternate arrangement so that the taluk hospital functioning is not affected.
Altogether, 1,407 persons are under the watch of the state health department for possible Nipah-infection.
District authorities have also asked people who have interacted with those who recently died of Nipah to contact the Nipah cell, established specially to coordinate efforts to combat the disease.
So far it had been assessed that the Nipah virus had spread from the Perambra taluk hospital and the Kozhikode medical college, but the recent deaths have pointed to the presence of the virus in the Balussery taluk hospital, too.
