COVID infections in Kerala hover above 200 for third straight day; 225 new cases on Sunday

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Sunday recorded 225 new COVID-19 cases and 126 recoveries, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 5,429.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the State is 2,228, while 3,174 people recovered from the disease, Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja said in statement.

This is the third consecutive day that the state reported over 200 new cases.

On June 28, the state had 118 new cases. The number rose to 122 on June 29; 131 on June 30; 151 on July 1; 160 on July 2; 211 on July 3 and 240 on July 4.

Of the positive cases today, 38 had contracted the disease through contact. While 117 came from abroad, 57 came from other states.

The death toll due to the pandemic stand at 27, with the death of one more person on Saturday. A native of Wandoor in Malappuram district, Mohammad, 82, was undergoing treatment at Manjeri Medical College Hospital.

Mohammad, who returned from abroad on June 29 was admitted to the hospital on July 1 and succumbed to the virus on Saturday. His test results however, returned positive on Sunday morning.

District–wise breakup of positive cases:

Palakkad - 29

Kasaragod - 28

Thiruvananthapuram - 27

Malappuram - 26

Kannur - 25

Kozhikode - 20

Alappuzha - 13

Ernakulam - 12

Thrissur - 12

Kollam - 10

Kottayam - 8

Idukki - 6

Wayanad - 6

Pathanamthitta - 3

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Kollam - 31

Malappuram - 28

Thrissur - 12

Thiruvananthapuram - 11 (including one Alappuzha native)

Pathanamthitta - 10 (one Alappuzha native)

Ernakulam - 10 (two from Kottayam and one from Palakkad)

Palakkad - 7

Wayanad - 6

Kozhikode - 5

Kottayam - 3

Kannur - 3

Of the 38 people who contracted the virus via contact, 22 people are from Thiruvananthapuram, five from Kozhikode, four from Kasaragod, three from Ernakulam, two from Malappuram and one each from Kollam and Alappuzha district.

Seven Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel, two CISF jawans in Kannur district, two BSF personnel in Thrissur and two crew members of a ship also tested positive for the virus on Sunday.

The split-up of those from other countries: Saudi Arabia – 35, UAE – 30, Kuwait – 21, Qatar – 17, Oman – 9, Bahrain – 4 and Russia – 1.

Those came from other states: Karnataka – 24, Delhi – 12, Tamil Nadu – 10, Maharashtra – 8, Telangana – 2 and Haryana – 1.

Of the 1,80,939 people under observation for suspected infection, 1,77,995 are home/institutional quarantined and 2,944 hospitalised. As many as 377 people were hospitalised on Sunday.

Thiruvananthapuram an 'active volcano'

Hours after devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran said the capital district was seated on a veritable volcano, Thiruvananthapuram has seen a record 27 new cases on Sunday, the highest ever for the district.

But here is the figure that has triggered fears of a community transmission: 22, or over 80 per cent, of the new cases have contracted the virus through contact. Never before has the ratio of imported-contact cases looked so heavy on the contact side in any other part of Kerala.

Besides fish vendors and their close family members and associates, a wide variety of people with high social exposure – healthcare workers, a Milma booth owner, and children – were also declared positive on the day.

In four days, the district has recorded 32 contact cases. Predictably, the government has imposed triple lockdown in the capital. Most of the cases can be traced to Kumarichanta Fish Market near Poonthura. And the fish wholesaler in Puthenpally who was tested positive on June 30 is turning out to be a superspreader.

Recently, a food delivery boy and a policeman in the city tested positive, prompting health department officials to implement a health protocol.

Adding to the concern of rising COVID-19 cases in the capital district, two accused lodged at a quarantine centre at nearby Varkala escaped early on Sunday morning.

Kochi battles contact cases

Only 12 cases were confirmed in Ernakulam district on Sunday, but there are three contact cases among them. A 40-year-old woman, who lives at Nedumbassery and works at the prepaid taxi counter of the Cochin International Airport, is among those who contracted the virus through contact. Her source of infection has not been identified.

A 59-year-old Edathala native tested positive as his samples were tested as part of finding the source of infection of a Thrikkakara native, aged 51. The Thrikkakara native was among the five cases detected on Saturday without a clue of the source of infection. The Edathala native had symptoms earlier and he had come in contact with the Thrikkakara man on June 24. There are 17 people in the primary contact list of the Thrikkakara native.

A 30-year-old woman of Pallippuram also tested positive on Sunday. The authorities are trying to trace the source of her infection.

High alert in other districts

Meanwhile, in Kozhikode, five people – two women and three children – living in an apartment complex inside a containment zone tested positive for COVID-19.

A security person of the same complex had tested positive for the virus after he committed suicide earlier last month. Krishnan, 68, a native of Vellayil had hanged inside his house on June 27, allegedly over domestic problems.

In Kochi, out of the 12 people tested positive, three contracted the virus through contact. This includes a woman working at the pre-paid taxi counter at the Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery. The officials are yet to identify one person's source of infection.

Out of the 26 confirmed cases in Malappuram district, 23 arrived from abroad and one from Mumbai. Two contracted the disease through contact. One patient contracted the disease from a relative who had tested positive on June 27 and another contracted the disease, while interacting with a Palamedu native who had tested positive on June 27.

Twenty-nine people, including a 13-year-old tested positive for the COVID-19 in Palakkad district. Out of these 20 arrived from abroad and nine from other states.

Twelve individuals, including two BSF jawans tested positive for COVID-19 in Thrissur district.

Out of the 13 who tested positive in Alappuzha district, 11 arrived from abroad, one from Mumbai and one contracted the disease through contact.

24 new hotspots

The government on Sunday declared 24 new regions as hotspots. Currently, there are 153 hotspots in the state.

Pattanakkad (ward 16), Thuravur (1,16,18), Kuthiyathodu (1,16), Ezhupunna (15), Amabalappuzha South (2) and Cheriyanad (7) from Alappuzha district; Kollam corporation (53), Kottarakara Municipality (2,4,6,7,8), Melila (15), Thevalakkara (8), Alappad (Azheekkal Harbour) from Kollam district; Paravoor Municipality (8), Kodungalloor (8), Thrikkakkara Municipality (28) and Aluva Municipality (Aluva Market) in Ernakulam district; Nallepalli (7), Koduvayoor (13), Vaniyakulam (6), Aanakkara (3) from Palakkad district; Kadamboor (3), Keezhalloor (3), Kutyattoor (13), Kunnothparambu (15) from Kannur district; and Vellanad (12, 13) from Thiruvananthapuram district are the new hotspots.

Six hotspots have been removed from the list: Vengad (Containment zone sub ward 12), Ullikkal (ward 19), Chengalai (14) and Kadachira (3) from Kannur district; and Sreemoola Nagaram (1,7,9, 11,12) and Malayattoor-Nileswaram (15) from Ernakulam district are the regions removed from the hotspot list.

Testing

So far 2,01,663 samples (including repeat, augmented and private lab samples) have been sent for testing, out of which results of 5,881 are pending. Apart from this, 58,728 samples were taken from priority groups like healthcare workers, persons with high social exposure, workers etc as part of sentinel surveillance of which 56,374 samples tested negative.