Health authorities have warned people to avoid visiting patients in hospitals, particularly in Palakkad and Malappuram districts, in the wake of an increased Nipah scare. To minimise risk, hospitals are limiting attendants to one person per patient and mandating masks for all staff, patients, and caregivers.
As health officials compiled the contact list of the 58-year-old man from Kumaramputhur, near Mannarkkad, who succumbed to Nipah at a private hospital in Perinthalmanna on Saturday evening, it was revealed that he had mainly used KSRTC buses for travel.
The man’s family members, including his wife, children and grandchildren, are among the primary contacts. As a precaution, the school attended by the grandchildren has been shut down.
Before his death at the Perinthalmanna hospital, the man had visited three other private hospitals for treatment, which may result in a lengthy contact list. As many as 112 persons who came in contact with him in the last three weeks were traced, and a route map was made by examining, among other things, surveillance camera footage.
609 under observation
The number of people under observation for Nipah rose to 609 on Monday. When 207 of them are in Malappuram district, 286 are in Palakkad, 114 in Kozhikode and two in Ernakulam.
Eight persons are under treatment in intensive care units in Malappuram, when five are under treatment in Palakkad. Health Minister Veena George said that 72 quarantined persons tested negative for Nipah in Malappuram. She said 38 persons in the State continued to be in the highest risk category and 133 in high risk category.
Fever survey
Health officials strengthened their field work in areas where restrictions were imposed by the district administration. A fever survey is also being done. As many as 17 wards in the vicinity of Kumaramputhur were declared as containment zones, covering areas within a three-kilometre radius of the Nipah-infected person’s residence.
The containment zones included seven wards in Kumaramputhur panchayat, three wards in Karakurissi panchayat, four wards in Mannarkkad municipality and three wards in Karimpuzha panchayat.
Crowding is banned in those zones, and shops there can function from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. All educational institutions, including madrasas and anganwadis, have been closed there. There are restrictions on people from outside entering the containment zones.
Published – July 14, 2025 09:01 pm IST
