Kerala COVID-19 cases breach uneasy 1,000-mark for the 3rd time in 4 days

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala recorded the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases, with 1,103 fresh cases reported on Saturday. This is the third time in four days the 1,000-mark has been breached in the state, which is scrambling to check a sudden burst of COVID-19 cases.

On Friday, the state had recorded 885 new cases, following two consecutive days with over 1,000 cases – 1,078 on Thursday (July 23) and 1,038 on Wednesday (July 22).

The state also registered over 1,049 recoveries on Saturday – highest ever recoveries on a day.

With this, the number of active cases in the state has gone up to 9,420, Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a statement. So far, 8,611 people recovered from the disease.

Since the first case reported in the state on 30 January, 18,098 have been infected with coronavirus in Kerala.

Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 838 people of the newly reported 1,103 cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, 72 people's source of infection is unknown, the health minister said.

While 119 people came from abroad, 106 came from other states.

Apart from this, 21 healthcare workers (11 from Thiruvananthapuram, four from Pathanamthitta, two each from Kollam and Alappuzha, one each from Kottayam and Ernakulam districts), two BSF jawans (Thrissur), two KLF employees, eight KSC workers and two DSC personnel (Kannur) also tested positive on Saturday.

Five more deaths

The minister also confirmed five COVID-19 related deaths. They are Annie Antony (76, Kakkanad in Ernakulam), Nabeesa (63, Padannakkad in Kasaragod), Rukhiyabi (67, Karaparambu), Muhammed Koya (58, Kozhikode) and Anjali Surendran (40, Payyallur in Palakkad).

With this, the official death toll has gone up to 59.

Apart from this, four more suspected COVID-19 deaths were reported in Kerala on Saturday.

The deceased have been identified as K P Laila (62), from Thalassery in Kannur district, Basheer (53), from Kuttiady in Kozhikode districy and Sulfikar Dawood from Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram. An 80-year-old man also died in Kottayam on Saturday.

While Dawood was under observation, Laila was undergoing treatment for pneumonia in Bengaluru and was returning to Kerala in an ambulance when she died. The Kottayam native was admitted to the Medical College hospital on Friday. He was tested positive in TrueNAT test.

Basheer was a cancer patient. He has been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in in Ernakulam. On testing positive for coronavirus, Basheer was shifted to Kalamassery Medical College on Saturday. An official confirmation on whether they died due to coronavirus will be available only after further tests are done.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:

Thiruvananthapuram – 240 (contact cases - 218)

Kozhikode – 110 (contact cases - 104)

Kasaragod – 105 (contact cases - 88)

Alappuzha – 102 (contact cases - 49)

Kollam – 80 (contact cases - 63)

Ernakulam – 79 (contact cases - 73)

Kottayam – 77 (contact - 67)

Malappuram – 68 (contact cases - 38)

Kannur – 62 (contact cases - 24)

Pathanamthitta – 52 (contact cases - 30)

Idukki – 40 (contact cases - 32)

Thrissur – 36 (contact cases - 13)

Palakkad – 35 (contact cases - 32)

Wayanad – 17 (contact cases - 7)

District-wise breakup of today's recoveries:

Thiruvananthapuram – 229

Malappuram – 185

Pathanamthitta – 150

Ernakulam – 77

Alappuzha – 70

Kozhikode – 62

Kollam – 50

Kottayam – 49

Wayanad – 45

Thrissur – 37

Kannur – 36

Palakkad – 24

Kasaragod – 23

Idukki – 12

Of the 1,54,300 people under observation for suspected infection, 1,45,319 are home/institutional quarantined and 8,981 hospitalised. As many as 1,151 people were hospitalised since Friday.

In last 24 hours, 22,013 samples were tested. In total, 6,53,982 samples (including routine, airport survillence, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. Of this, results of 6,637 samples are yet to be returned.

34 new places were designated as hotspots on Saturday, while six was excluded from the list. The state presently has 481 hotspots.

Key points:

• Thiruvananthapuram continues to be the most affected district in the state. The number of active cases in the southern most district rose to 2,666 with 240 more people testing positive. Of them, 218 are contact cases and source of infection is not known in 16 cases. Six patients and two nurses of Neyyattinkara General hospital in tested positive today. Following this, the women-only ward of the hospital was closed.

• Kasaragod district reported 105 more cases on Saturday. Of them, 88 patients contracted the disease through contact. There are over 600 active cases in the district.

Forty-three people who attended a wedding ceremony have been tested coronavirus positive in the district in the past few days. The collector has ordered to register a cases against the person who conducted the ceremony.

As cases keep rising, the district collector ordered curfew as per CRPC Section 144 within the limits of Manjeswaram, Kumbala, Kasaragod, Hosdurg and Nileshwar police station. Neerchal and Nattakkallu areas in the district have been designated as new COVID clusters in the district. There are eight clusters in the district.

• Alappuzha reported 102 cases. Of them, 47 are contact cases. There are two health personnel among the cases. Source of infection is unknown in one case. Five policemen of Alappuzha South Station also tested positive for coronavirus. The station has been shutdown for disinfection.

• Of the 80 cases reported in Kollam, 63 contracted the virus through contact. The patients include a doctor of Kottarakara taluk hospital and a Kollam native nurse who works at Thiruvananthapuram medical college.

• Of the 79 new cases in Ernakulam, 75 people, including one healthcare worker, contracted the virus through contact. Eighteen of them are inmates of Karunalayam old-age home at Kakkanad. So far, 55 inmates have been contracted the virus.

• Seventy-seven more cases were confirmed in Kottayam. Of them, 67 are contact cases. A doctor of a private hospital in Kottayam and a staff nurse of Pambady taluk hospital are among the positive cases. Twelve people tested positive in Payippad panchayat.

• In Malappuram, 68 people tested positive. Of them, 38 are contact cases. Source of infection is not known in 16 cases.

• Of the 52 new COVID-19 cases in Pathanamthitta, 18 contracted the virus through contact. Source of infection of 12 people are yet to be ascertained. Four of them are healthcare workers. While 12 came from abroad, six people came from other states.