The Indian nurse who tested positive for the coronavirus has been found to be infected with a different strain than the one in the Wuhan outbreak, the Indian Consulate in Jeddah said on Thursday. The nurse, who is from Kerala, was working at the Jazeera Abha Al Hayath Hospital in the city of Khamis Mushait in Southwest Saudi Arabia.
Responding to the tweet by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs V Muraleedharan, the Indian Consulate in Jeddah clarified that the nurse found positive for the coronavirus was suffering from MERS-CoV. “Dr Tarik Al Azraqi, Chairman, Scientific Regional Infection Control Committee, Aseer Region, has confirmed that d Indian Nurse being treated at Aseer National Hospital is suffering from MERS-CoV & not 2019-NCoV [Wuhan],” it said. “We request everyone to refrain from sharing incorrect info.”
The nurse who tested positive is believed to have been infected while tending to a Filipino nurse.
Earlier on Thursday, Muraleedharan confirmed the news about the nurse. “About 100 Indian nurses, mostly from Kerala, working at the Al-Hayat hospital have been tested and none except one nurse was found infected by coronavirus,” Muraleedharan had tweeted. “Affected nurse is being treated at Aseer National Hospital and is recovering well.”
The toll in the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak rose to 25 on Thursday, Chinese officials have said. China’s National Health Commission said the virus has infected 830 people so far and most cases are in the city of Wuhan. People in at least six other countries were found infected with the virus, including Thailand, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Singapore and Vietnam. Special Chinese administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan have also reported cases.
The coronavirus emerged from Wuhan in Hubei province of China and has led to an outbreak. All those infected were residents of Wuhan or recent visitors to the city. The virus has spread beyond China’s borders, raising concerns of a pandemic. The coronavirus is part of the same family as the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome.
However, the World Health Organization said the disease was not yet a global health emergency. “Make no mistake, though, this is an emergency in China,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “It has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.”
The outbreak has cast a shadow over Lunar New Year celebrations. Hundreds of millions of people in China are expected to travel over the course of the new year period, which begins Saturday, both within the country and overseas. Health officials fear this travelling could spread the transmission.
Several countries have stepped up medical screening of travellers from China, particularly those from Wuhan. Passengers from China are facing screening measures at five US airports and a host of transport hubs across Asia, including seven airports in India. European airports from London to Moscow have also stepped up checks and Nigeria, which has many citizens working in China, said it would start checks at entry points.
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