Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], September 14 (ANI): Amid concerns over the Nipah virus in Kerala, 15 samples of those in the high-risk category in the contact list have been sent for testing.

The contact list contains 950 people of which 213 are in the high risk category.

287 health workers are also there in the contact list.

Four people in high risk categories are in a private hospital and 17 people are under surveillance in Kozhikode medical college.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar reviewed steps taken for containment of Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode, Kerala, from the Indian Council of Medical Research- National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), in Pune on Thursday.

She visited the ICMR-NIV Institute in Pune to take stock of preparations.

After undertaking the review, Dr Pawar stated,"The Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and under the guidance of Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya is monitoring the situation and necessary steps for prevention of spread are being taken. Under the guidance of Union Minister Mandaviya, high level teams from the Centre and ICMR-NIV with mobile units equipped with BSL-3 laboratories have already reached Kozhikode and will be doing on-ground testing. Affected gram panchayats in the Kozhikode area have been declared as quarantine zones."In the wake of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode district, the District Collector has declared holidays for all educational institutions including Anganwadis, Madrasas, tuition centres including professional colleges on September 16, in addition to the two-day holiday already declared for September 14 and September 15.

Earlier, amid rising concerns over the return of the Nipah virus in Kerala, the state government strengthened measures to prevent the spread of the infection a day after two deaths from the same were confirmed in Kozhikode district.

Meanwhile, the total number of active cases of the infection has gone up to three with the confirmation of one more positive case of Nipah in Kozhikode on Wednesday. (ANI)