The Kerala government on Wednesday announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh each for the two kids of Lini, the nurse who died after contracting Nipah virus while attending to infected people. Kerala government has also decided to offer a government job to her husband who worked in the Middle East.
In addition, the state government has announced Rs 5 lakh each to the families of people who died due to Nipah fever.
An all-party meeting will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on May 25 to take stock of the situation arising out of the Nipah fever outbreak in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. Kerala Health minister K.K. Shylaja said that the state government would procure antiviral medication, Ribavirin, to counter the disease. This is the only medicine that has been able to curb the virus, she added.
At least 10 people have so far lost their lives to the Nipah fever in the northern districts of Kozhikode and Malappuram.
It is feared that the viral fever has its origin from bats that were found in an unused well belonging to a Perambra family who became the first victims of the deadly infection.
The minister also appealed to the public not to destroy the habitats of bats and not to fear the mammal.