Five members of a family in Kerala, India, are the latest to contract the new coronavirus COVID-19.
The Health Minister of Kerala, KK Shailaja, said on March 8 (Sunday) the family tested positive for the virus.
This brings the total number of infected people in India to 39 as of March 8. The minister said the family had travelled to Italy, but did not disclose their travel history at the airport and were therefore not screened at the airport. Italy is one of the nations that reported the most cases of coronavirus.
"They also refused to be hospitalised initially and we had to persuade them," the minister added when talking to media on Sunday.
