Anyone who comes to government hospitals with a high fever will be tested for the virus, said Coimbatore district collectorate.
After a 12-year-old boy in Kerala succumbed to the Nipah virus, the authorities in Tamil Nadu have stepped up vigil in all border districts.
The health authorities said that they are monitoring people who arrive from Kerala. Coimbatore district collector Dr GS Sameeran visited the Walayar check post on Monday to check the monitoring arrangements.
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“The health department has issued some instructions including how to identify Nipah, Zika, or Dengue virus. Patients with high body temperature will have to undergo certain procedures and health check-ups,” said Sameeran, adding that they are taking all necessary precautions on the border.
People coming from Kerala to Tamil Nadu have to go through 13 checkpoints. People with negative RT-PCR reports will be permitted to enter the state.
On Sunday, Tamil Nadu minister for medical and family welfare Ma Subramanian had said: “Already we have been monitoring the nine districts that border Kerala. We have been conducting door-to-door awareness campaigns in the districts on the spread of Zika virus… In the wake of the Nipah virus, we have issued an advisory to district health officials to expedite measures like holding fever camps.”
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A 12-year old boy had died on Sunday due to Nipah virus infection at a hospital in Kerala’s Kozhikode.
“We are continuously monitoring the people who enter Tamil Nadu. People need not panic about the Nipah virus. But at the same time they should not show negligence (in following the government advisory),” he cautioned.
Stressing that the health department’s priority is to strengthen contact tracing and determine the source of infection, Kerala health minister Veena George on Monday said there are chances that the 12-year old boy may have come in contact with more people.
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