Two Indians, who were recently flown back from UAE on 7 May, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala. While one of them lived in Abu Dhabi, the other Indian worked in Dubai.
Both were airlifted as part of the Indian government’s special mission to fly back the stranded Indians abroad. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted, “Two new cases reported in the State. These are import cases & have arrived here on May 7th. One patient has recovered.”
#COVID19 Update | May 9
Two new cases reported in the State. These are import cases & have arrived here on May 7th.
One patient has recovered.
?23,930 are under observation
? 36,648 samples tested; 36,002 -ve
? 3,475 samples covered in sentinel surveillance; 3,231 are -ve. pic.twitter.com/0Zbuhsx7kn— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) May 9, 2020
Vijayan also said that the two patients testing positive for coronavirus had taken the number of positive cases in the state to 505. The chief minister said that 17 patients were under treatment, while 485 had recovered. The southern Indian state has recorded just three deaths so far. This assumes significance in light of total 1,981 deaths across India.
“One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment, has been cured today. The two new cases are now under treatment in Kochi and Kozhikode. They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi- Kochi and Dubai-Kozhikode flights, respectively,” Vijayan was quoted by news agency PTI.
Maharashtra and Gujarat continue to remain the two worst-hit Indian states by the COVID-19 pandemic. Maharashtra has recorded 731 deaths while the COVID-19 death toll in Gujarat has climbed to 449. Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Madhya Pradesh has gone up to 200. West Bengal has recorded 160 deaths, while the number of COVID-19 deaths in Rajasthan has now reached 101.
Meanwhile, a senior functionary in the Indian health ministry, Lav Agarwal, said on Friday, “We have to learn to live with the virus.” In other words, what Agarwal said was that it will now be the responsibility of individuals to take precautions to protect themselves from the deadly virus until a new vaccine is invented.
Agarwal has been tasked to brief the media almost on a daily basis about the updates on the coronavirus situation across India.