Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely monitoring the current situation on the novel coronavirus, even as another person in Kerala tested positive for the deadly virus.

Talking to mediapersons here, the Minister said the student who tested positive on Sunday is also studying in China, and came in close proximity to the girl student who had tested positive on Thursday.

"He sat next to the girl in the flight who tested positive three days ago. They were in touch with each other in China also," the Minister said.

Harsh Vrdhan said he is constantly monitoring the situation with Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja.

"I talk to her (Shailaja) everyday and we are extending all possible support to her. We have assured her that the Centre will provide all possible support to them."

He also said that the Centre is doing its best to keep a closely monitor the developments on novel coronavirus.

"PM is personally monitoring the situation. Various departments and ministries are cooperating with the Health Ministry. I have also written to all Chief Ministers to keep a close watch on developments on this front" the Minister said, adding "till now we have tested 130 suspected cases out of which 128 cases have turned out to be negative, only two are positive."

The Minister told the media that "apart from China, we are now screening people who are coming back from Singapore and Thailand also."

He also advised that "whether or not the persons who have travelled to these places are put under the suspected category, they must remain in home quarantine, that means, isolated in a room for at least two weeks."

Among the China cases confirmed, 444 people are in critical condition, while 1,118 are in serious condition. However, 85 people have been discharged from hospital, bringing the number of people who have recovered to 328.

There remains a total of 19,544 suspected cases in the country. Although more than 99 per cent of the cases are in China, the virus has spread to at least 23 countries and the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency in the face of the rapid spread of the virus.