Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appealed to the public to refrain from traveling to Kerala, India, where the deadly coronavirus has been declared a ‘state calamity.

The ministry made the appeal in statement issued on Tuesday, noting that three people have tested positive for the highly communicable disease in Kerala.

Noting that a state of calamity has been declared there, the ministry appealed to the public to refrain from traveling there while this remains.

Furthermore, it asked Maldivians living in the various states in India, especially the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, to register at the respective high commissions.

The Novel Coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China in December 2019, and there has been public concern over the possible outbreak in the Maldives due to tourist arrivals from the southeastern nation. Over 260,000 tourists arrived from China in 2019.

There have been over 20,600 confirmed cases thus far, with 427 deaths reported.

While the Maldives is yet to discover any cases, seven individuals who were tested for the disease following symptoms were negative.

One of the individuals tested was a 20-year-old Maldivian that returned after traveling to China, last Wednesday.