coronavirus india recovery
© Reuters / ANIHospital staff wearing masks walk in Hyderabad, India.
After declaring a regional health emergency over the novel coronavirus, two of the three confirmed patients in India's state of Kerala - the only known cases in the country - seem to have recovered from the illness.

The two patients tested negative for the virus in subsequent blood tests and may be soon released from hospital once given the approval of health officials in New Delhi. The only confirmed case remains at Kanhangad district hospital in Kasaragod. All three are medical students who were diagnosed with the disease after visiting China.

More than 3,300 people remain under observation in Kerala after returning home from virus-stricken regions, including the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first observed. So far, all returnees from the city have tested negative.

While the majority of those under observation have been allowed to stay at home for the quarantine period, 31 remain in isolation wards in a number of hospitals. The virus has killed over 1,000 people and sickened more than 43,000 worldwide since December.