Thiruvananthapuram: About 62% of patients currently undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in Kerala are asymptomatic, says a report from the Health Department, giving rise to fears that this could cause a spurt in contact cases.
The report, which took into account the number of active cases as on June 10, said 742 out of 1,196 patients had no symptoms. Only 14 (1.1%) showed serious symptoms, while 448 (37%) had minor symptoms.
While the treatment is easy and there is a high probability of recovery, the fear is that the high percentage of asymptomatic patients could result in an increase in the number of contact patients.
In the last two days alone, 24 patients have got the virus through contact.
Of the seven contact cases reported in the Thrissur district on Friday, six were health workers.
In Malappuram, a fire force employee and a panchayat driver were among the three contact cases reported on Friday.
Thirssur has the most number of contact patients at 34, followed by Palakkad with 30, Kannur with 27 and Malappuram with 25.
In some cases, the source of the virus could not be determined.
Kerala on Friday recorded 78 new COVID-19 cases and 32 recoveries. With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the state has gone up to 2,322. The number of active cases in the State is now at 1,303, while 999 people recovered from the disease. Twenty people have died in the state so far due to COVID-19.