Kerala is facing yet another public health crisis with a 23-year-old student being diagnosed with the deadly Nipah virus on Tuesday, little more than a year after the virus claimed 17 lives in the Calicut and Malappuram districts of the state in May 2018. The administration has kept 311 people who were suspected to have come in contact with the student in isolation to prevent the spread of the virus.
The challenge of tackling the health crisis seems to be bigger this year, with the state government putting four larger districts, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kollam, and Idukki, on high alert as the student had reportedly travelled through the region recently.