Nipah virus: Educational institutions to function normally in Kozhikode

After a hiatus of more than a week due to the Nipah virus outbreak in this district that claimed two lives, educational institutions here commenced regular classes from Monday as no new positive cases were reported since September 16.

All educational institutions in the district had been closed since September 14 and online classes were being held after the virus outbreak was declared in the state on September 12.

The district administration advised students to wear masks and carry hand sanitizers when going to their respective educational institutions.

School authorities said online classes were being held for those in areas which were still declared as containment zones.

The children in the classes said they were happy and relieved that the situation was improving and that they were able to go to school.

A total of six people were confirmed to have been infected by the virus till date and of them two died.

Of the two deaths, the first person who died on August 30 was found to be the index case or patient zero from whom others caught the infection.

As of September 24, the number of people under observation were 915, but none of them were in the high risk category, the district administration said.

The number of samples tested till then was 377 and the number of negative results was 363, District Collector A Geetha said in a Facebook post.