The condition of the nine-year-old boy from Maruthonkara in Kozhikode district, who is undergoing medical treatment at a private hospital after being infected of the Nipah virus, is reportedly improving.
He is the son of E. Mohammedali, the first patient who died of the infection in this year’s outbreak on August 30. Sources said the boy was being given physiotherapy treatment over the past few days. He is able to breathe without the help of medical equipment. Though he had been on ventilator support initially, it was removed recently. But, he was given oxygen support. Since it will take some more time for him to test negative for the virus, the boy is still under medical isolation in the paediatric intensive care unit of the hospital.
Health Minister Veena George said in a release on Thursday that the condition of the three other infected persons, including the brother-in-law of Mohammedali, was also getting better. There are 981 persons on the contact list of the infected persons at present. All the lab test results of the 27 body fluid samples of suspected patients made available on Thursday were negative.
Meanwhile, the Kozhikode district administration has removed the restrictions imposed on many wards in the nine grama panchayats in Vadakara taluk, which were declared containment zones following the reporting of the infection there. Some wards in Feroke municipality and Kozhikode Corporation will continue to be containment zones. But some conditions have been relaxed there and shops can function till 8 p.m. Banks and government treasuries can remain open till 2 p.m. Those under medical isolation and on the contact list of the infected persons should remain in quarantine.
