15 Kerala students stranded in China's Hubei reach Kochi; no

Fifteen students from the state who returned here from China were allowed to go back to their homes by doctors as none of them had symptoms of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection, officials said on Saturday.

However, their samples have been collected for detailed lab testing, they said.

Before allowing them to leave the Kalamassery government medical college hospital, doctors advised them to remain home quarantined for 28 days, officials added.

The students who were stranded in Hubei province of China following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus had landed at the Cochin International Airport Limited here on Friday night.

They had undergone thermal screening for the infection at the airport before being taken to the hospital in five sterilised ambulances.

Hospital authorities dismissed reports that the students were admitted to the isolation facility set up in the hospital.

The students travelled to Bangkok from Kunming Airport and then took an Air Asia flight to reach here at 11 pm on Friday.

Relatives of the students had reached the airport but they were not allowed to meet them.