Thiruvananthapuam: There is no signs of community transmission of novel coronavirus in Kerala yet, state Health Minister K K Shailaja said here on Monday.
The minister told reporters that though the authorities have not been able to trace the source of the virus in some patients who tested positive recently, investigations were on.
“We have not witnessed a third wave of the virus outbreak. We have been conducting citizen surveillance tests simultaneously. As part of this, around 300 people were tested randomly and all of them turned negative. One nurse was tested positive as we conducted random tests among hospital staff. All these suggest that the community transmission has not started,” the minister said.
“As per the nature of the virus, we may not be able to identify the source of infection of all the patients. In certain cases, we can only identify the circumstances where the patient contracted the disease and focus our activities there,” she said in reply to a query.
She, however, warned that it cannot be said that the stage would never occur in the state. She cited the situation in Singapore where more than 15,000 COVID cases where reported between March and April after the lockdown was lifted.
Shailaja said the health department was checking if cases of pneumonia or other respiratory issues were on the rise in the state. “There is no sign of such a rise yet. If more such cases are reported from a particular area, we will concentrate there,” she said.
The minister said the government has decided to increase the number of tests as much as possible. “The chief minister and the finance minister have said that money need not be a constraint for that,”she said. She said there was no shortage of masks and gloves in the state.
Eleven fresh cases were reported in Kerala on Sunday from Kottayam and Idukki- the two districts that were just a week ago thought to be virus-free. As of now, 468 confirmed cases were reported from Kerala. Of this, 342 or 73.08 per cent have recovered.
