Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala reported 608 new COVID-19 cases and 181 recoveries on Tuesday, taking the number of active cases in the state to 4,454. This is the first time the state is reporting over 600 cases in a single day.
A total of 8,930 people have so far tested positive for coronavirus in the state ever since the outbreak began in January this year. Of these, 4,438 people are cured of the disease, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.
Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 396 people of the newly reported 608 cases contracted the virus through contact. Of the contact based cases, 26 people's source of infection is unknown, he said.
Of the 396 contact cases, 177 people are from Thiruvananthapuram, 58 from Ernakulam, 53 from Kozhikode, 32 from Thrissur, 22 from Malappuram, 20 from Kasaragod, 17 from Alappuzha, 12 from Kollam, three from Kottayam and one each from Palakkad and Kannur districts.
While 130 people came from abroad, 68 came from other states.
Apart from this eight healthcare workers (four from Thiruvananthapuram, two from Kollam and one each from Kottayam and Ernakulam), two Central Industrial Security Force (Kannur) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (Alappuzha) personnel and one Border Security Force soldier (Thrissur) also tested positive.
It's been six months since we began battling the COVID-19 pandemic. But the spread of the disease has increased across the world. It is likely to persist till year end, the chief minister said.
Since the disease is here to stay for a while it is essential that the public remains more alert than ever, he said.
One more death
The chief minister also confirmed one more death in the state, taking the total number of COVID-19 fatalities to 36. The deceased has been identified as 47 year-old Naseer Usman Kutty, a native of Chunakkara in Alappuzha district.
The Saudi Arabia returnee had been undergoing treatment for cancer at Government Medical College hospital in Alappuzha. Though he died on Sunday evening, Naseer's swab test result was came on Monday, the hospital sources said.
Meanwhile, a Poonthura native, who had died on July 10, also tested positive on Tuesday. However, this has not been added to the state's official list of COVID deaths.
Arulappan's is the second death reported along Thiruvananthapuram coast. The first was 67-year-old Saifudeen's, a native of Manikyavilakom near Poonthura on July 10, the day Arulappan's death was recorded.
While Saifudeen was already under treatment in the Medical College for COVID-19, Arulappan was not even tested. Close family members said he suffered from serious cardiac and kidney ailments. Five years ago he had a heart attack and he was undergoing treatment for his kidney.
His source of infection is not known.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Thiruvananthapuram – 201
Ernakulam – 70
Malappuram – 58
Kozhikode – 58
Kasaragod – 44
Thrissur – 42
Alappuzha – 34
Palakkad – 26
Kottayam – 25
Kollam – 23
Wayanad – 12
Kannur – 12
Pathanamthitta – 3
District–wise breakup of recoveries:
Palakkad – 49
Kannur – 49 (including three Malappuram natives and one Thrissur native)
Kozhikode – 21 (including two Thiruvananthapuram natives)
Alappuzha – 17
Thiruvananthapuram – 15 (two Kollam natives)
Thrissur – 9
Malappuram – 9
Kottayam – 5
Kasaragod – 5
Kollam – 2
Of the 1,81,847 people under observation for suspected infection, 1,77,067 are home/institutional quarantined and 4,780 hospitalised. As many as 720 people were hospitalised on Tuesday.
19 new places were designated as hotspots on Tuesday, while 10 were excluded from the list. The state presently has 227 hotspots.
Local cases on rise in Ernakulam
Ernakulam district saw a surge in infection rate as 70 cases were reported on Tuesday. To make it worse, 59 of the patients contracted the disease through local transmission. The remaining cases are imported ones - seven from abroad and four from other states.
Twenty cases through contact are in the coastal village of Chellanam. All of them were included in the contact list of local residents who had tested positive earlier.
Eight relatives of a Karumaloor native, who tested positive on July 11, have contracted the virus. The Karumalloor native had attended a family function at Keezhmad. At least 12 people who had attended the 'Valayideel' function had tested positive earlier.
Keezhmad pamchayat near Aluva appears to be fast becoming a COVID breeding zone. Those who tested positive in the village on Tuesday include a health worker of the primary health centre there, a lorry driver and a three-year-old boy, whose father tested positive on July 11.
Five family members of an Alangadu native who tested positive on July 7 have also contracted the virus.
There are 403 active cases in the district.
21 more test positive in Ponnani cluster
Of the 58 new cases detected in Malappuram, 21 tested positive in tests conducted as part of the sentinel surveillance done in Ponnani, one of the active virus clusters in the state.
Those who contacted the virus through local transmission include fishermen and painting workers in Ponnani. An employee of the Bevco outlet, a food supplier and a wholesale dealer also tested positive in the region.
A woman of Tanur also contracted the virus through contact. She was in the contact list of a person who tested positive on June 30.
Other districts
Kozhikode also reported 58 fresh cases. Of them, 53 contacted the disease through contact. Forty-seven people tested positive in the special antigen tests conducted at Thooneri Primary Health Centre on June 13 after a native of the panchayat tested positive on July 11.
Three people tested positive in the antigen tests conducted in Nadapuram panchayat.
There are 20 contact cases among the 44 cases reported in Kasaragod. All of them, except one, were in the contact list of patients who tested positive earlier.
The source of infection has not been identified in the case of a native of Kasaragod municipality. The remaining 24 cases are imported ones - 15 from abroad and nine from other states.
Thrissur reported 42 cases - the highest single-day cases in the district. Of them, 32 contracted the disease through local transmission. Nineteen people who tested positive had come in contact with a Kudumbashree member in Kunnamkulam. Eight people who were in the contact list of a staffer of a private firm in Kunnamkulam also tested positive.
Of the 10 imported cases, six people belong to a family of Marathamkod who returned from Chennai on June 25.
Two nuns test COVID positive in Pathanamthitta
Two nuns of Holy Spirit Convent at Thukalassery near Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. The duo was reportedly working at the Pushpagiri Medical College Hospital in Thiruvalla.
Following this, the authorities have declared the 14th, 19th and 20th wards of Thiruvalla municipality as containment zones. The convent was also shut down.
According to health officials, there are 52 people in their primary contact list, including 35 members of the convent.
In another incident, a kitchen supervisor of Parumala hospital canteen also tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. The worker, who is a native of Poonthura in Thiruvananthapuram district, was shifted to Kottayam Govt Medical College hospital. 20 workers in the canteen have also been quarantined.
Key points from CM's press meet:
• Kerala has entered the third stage of Covid pandemic. The next phase is community transmission.
• The lax attitude of the public has contributed to the spread of the disease.
• IAS officers have been appointed at district levels to coordinate the COVID related activities. They are: Thiruvananthapuram - K Imbasekhar, Kollam - S Chithra, Alappuzha - Tej Lohith Reddy IAS, Pathanamthitta - S Chandrasekhar, Kottayam - Renu Raj, Idukki - V R Premkumar, Ernakulam - Geromic George, Thrissur - Jeevan Babu, Palakkad - S Karthikeyan, Malappuram - N S K Umesh, Kozhikode - V Vigneshwari, Kannur - V R K Teja Mylavarapu, Wayanad - Veena Madhavan and Kasaragod - Amit Meena.
• Kerala DGP Loknath Behera has spoken to ITBP chief to ensure the maintenance of COVID protocol and social distancing at ITBP camps, which are witnessing rapid rise in cases.
• In the last 24 hours, 14,227 samples were analysed. A total of 4,35,043 samples have been sent for testing so far and the results of 7,745 samples are yet to come. Apart from this, 79,723 samples were taken from priority groups like health care workers, persons with high social exposure, workers etc. as part of sentinel surveillance, of which 75,338 samples tested negative.