: With the situation in Wuhan, the centre of the new corona virus outbreak, continuing to worsen, parents of Kerala students in the Chinese province are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that their children would reach home as early as possible.
S Vijaykumar, whose daughter Akhila Jasmine is a fourth year student at Wuhan university, told PTI that though she had informed him that there was no shortage of food, he and his wife Anitha Jasmine were spending sleepless nights.
There are 63 Indian students, including 34 from Kerala, at the varsity, he said.
Though their examinations are over and its one month vacation now for Chinese new year,Vijaykumar said his daughter and some other students of the fourth and fifth year decided to stay back as they wanted to use the library for preparing notes for the coming semester.
Vijaykumar said he spoke to his daughter on Tuesday morning and was glad to learn none of them have any health issues.
"They have no health problems. But the students are worried as the situation there is worsening.
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They have packed their bags and are hoping to be airlifted soon", he said.
Akhila and her friends have been preparing food on their own and have stocks to last a month, Vijaykumar said.
The university has also provided them food articles, he said.
Their hostel is located very near the Wuhan wet market (places that sell dead and live animals in the open), which is believed to be the starting point of the virus outbreak and Wuhan hospital, where thousands of the virus affected are undergoing treatment, he said.
The students are not going to the hospital now and are remaining indoors.
Vijaykumar, along with six other families of students from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, met here on Tuesday morning.
Some of them met Health minister K K Shylaja and were assured that the state government was doing all it could to help them.
The mothers of two other students--Athira and Rema,fourth and fifth year students, who hail from Thengapattanam in Kanyakumari district, said the children were facing problems.
She claimed there was not enough food and the students are not eating or sleeping and wanted to be airlifted back to the state as early as possible.
"My daughter was crying when I spoke to her. Please bring back our children soon", the mother said with anxiety writ large on her face as she tried to hide her tears.
Five people in Kerala are still under observation in isolation wards at various hospitals across the state.
A total of 436 people who returned to Kerala from China over the past few days have been kept under observation by health authorities.
The number of fatalities in China from the coronavirus epidemic has risen to 106, with health authorities reporting 24 more deaths.