Ernakulam: Two symptomatic doctors and a nurse who treated COVID-19 patients at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery in Kerala's Ernakulam district were placed under isolation on Monday, health authorities informed.
The medical professionals were placed under isolation after they displayed coronavirus-related symptoms. A three-year-old child and his parents who tested positive for COVID-19, and a coronavirus positive Briton are housed at the hospital.
The doctors and nurse were part of the medical team treating these patients. Their blood samples have been sent for testing.
The isolation comes after Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram, virtually shut down after a radiologist who had returned from Spain had tested positive for coronavirus. Sources said senior doctors of at least six core departments have been asked to isolate themselves in their homes.
The total number of coronavirus cases had risen to 24 in Kerala on Sunday after a UK national and the radiologist from SCTIMST tested positive.
The state government has launched a "break the chain" initiative to prevent the spread of the virus.
COVID-19, which stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019, is the name of the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Coronavirus family with crown-shaped spikes on its surfaces. The name of the disease was given by the World Health Organisation.