Kerala recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 case count on Thursday with 339 people testing positive, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said during his sunset briefing.
This is the second day that the daily case count crossed 300.
A total of 149 people have recovered from the disease on the day.
Among the new cases, 133 contracted the disease through contact, 117 came from abroad while 74 came from other states. With this, the number of contact cases in the state crossed 1,000.
Among the contact cases, the source of infection of seven is yet to be traced.
The state has reported 6,534 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 3,710 persons recovered. The remaining 2,795 patients are being treated in various hospitals.
Here's the district-wise break-up of today's cases:
Thiruvananthapuram - 95
Malappuram - 55
Palakkad - 50
Thrissur - 27
Alappuzha - 22
Idukki - 20
Ernakulam - 12
Kasaragod - 11
Kollam - 10
Kozhikode -8
Kannur - 8
Kottayam - 7
Wayanad - 7
Pathanamthitta - 7
Key points from CM's press meet:
• Super spreading of COVID-19 is being observed in various places. So people will not be allowed to gather outside.
• Number of daily tests will be increased.
• The state is on the brink of community transmission.
• COVID-19 is not restricted to containment zones. The disease can spread rapidly. The state has adopted strict measures to contain the spread. People should co-operate with the government in the fight against the pandemic.
• People should follow the guidelines issued by the health officials. Otherwise, the state would see community transmission.
• Those in reverse quarantine are most vulnerable. They must heed the guidelines without fail and must also ensure that they discourage contact with everyone.
• COVID symptoms are not very explicit. One may look healthy and devoid of any illness, but they may be infected with the coronavirus. Everyone should maintain social distancing in the best interest of the society.
• We are far from returning to life as it once was. We are in the vice grip of COVID. One tiny misstep today would derail our efforts taken thus far.
• If contact cases rise at the same pace, community transmission is imminent. In the last three days, 190 contracted the disease through contact in Thiruvananthapuram. Of the 95 cases reported on Thursday, 88 are through contact.
• Sentinel surveillance and antigen testing have been ramped up in several areas Thiruvananthapuram.
• Special clusters will be identified in Poonthura in Thiruvananthapuram.
There will be five clusters in total:
Cluster 1 - Health officials, ASHA workers
Cluster 2 - Police, merchants, mediapersons, drivers, traders, food delivery persons, sanitation workers, bank officials
Cluster 3 - Pregnant women, new mothers, aged people and children
Cluster 4 - Guest workers
Cluster 5 - Others
• Triple lockdown has been enforced in Poonthura to check COVID-19 spread to other regions.
• Police have distributed one lakh masks in Poonthura.
• In Thiruvananthapuram, the police have launched an initiative to feed the hungry.
• 1,85,960 people are under observation in various districts. 3,261 are in hospitals. 471 persons were admitted to hospitals on Thursday.
• 2,20,677 samples (including the augmented samples) have been sent for testing so far.
• 66,934 samples have been collected from priority groups, such as health workers, guest workers, social contacts, as a part of sentinel surveillance. Of them, 63,199 returned negative. The state has increased the number of daily tests. Till Thursday, 3,07,219 persons underwent routine, sentinel, pooled sentinel, CB-NAAT, and TrueNat tests.
• Six more regions have been converted into hot spots while 2 regions were excluded from the list. There are currently 181 hotspots in the state.
The new hot spots areMaradu Municipality (Containment Zone: ward 4) in Ernakulam district, Kumaramangalam (14) in Idukki, Thrikkodithanam (12) in Kottayam, Meppady (19, 22) in Wayanad, Pattancherry (6) in Palakkad, and Nadathara (8) in Thrissur.
Amballoor (2) and Parakkadavu (8) in Ernakulam district have been removed from the list.