KOLLAM: The drivers of the auto rickshaw, in which a Kollam native diagnosed with Monkeypox had travelled, were identified. The youth, who came from Dubai, came to the N S Cooperative Hospital in Kollam and went back in separate autos. Meantime, a taxi driver, in whose car the patient had travelled, was not found yet. He had gone to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College in a taxi from Kollam KSRTC premises.

The patient had arrived on a Sharjah – Thiruvananthapuram IndiGo flight at 5 pm (UAE time) on July 12. The health department has informed that those who traveled on this flight should undergo self-monitoring. A total of 16 people, who came in contact with the patient, are being monitored. Emigration clearance officials and those who handled the patient’s baggage are also being monitored. Two people who traveled with the patient are under observation in Kottayam. Both of them have not shown any symptoms so far. There is no need to worry, said the DMO, last day.

Meantime, Minister Veena George said on Friday that all the districts have been alerted as the first case of Monkeypox was confirmed in the state. As the people from five districts, namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Kottayam have flight contact, a special alert has been declared in these districts.