India's southern state of Kerala continues to grapple with Nipah virus, with 10 deaths being confirmed by the state's health minister K K Shailaja as of Wednesday (23).
Although no fresh cases have been reported in more than 24 hours, two persons who had contact history with the infected and dead in Kerala have been hospitalized in Karnataka's Mangaluru.
Symptoms of the virus were seen in a 20-year-old woman and a 75-year-old man, who had traveled to Kerala and came in contact with one of the infected patients. "They are not confirmed Nipah cases yet, so there is no need to panic ... the situation is under control," said Rajesh B.V., a district surveillance officer. He said blood samples of the two people have been sent to Manipal Centre for Virus Research.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to the families of all the deceased patients.
In a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, the government also remembered Lini – a nurse at EMS Memorial Cooperative hospital in Kozhikode - who developed fever after attending to a Nipah patient and died on Monday. The government has decided to offer a government job to her husband Sajeesh, who works abroad.
Her two children will be given Rs 10 lakh each as compensation, the government said.
"At this instance, we duly remember nurse Lini, whose demise has caused immense grief. She died after attending to a patient with Nipah virus and we remember her commitment to her duty and sacrificing nature. She had contact with a Nipah patient and that's how she contracted the virus and subsequently died. We have immense gratitude and commitment towards Lini's family," Shylaja said.
The Minister added: "After Lini's demise, the responsibility of bringing up their two children lies on her husband Sajeesh. It may be difficult for him to go back to his job abroad, so we have decided to give a job to the young man."
