With 927 new patients, Kerala's COVID-19 cases cross 19k on Sunday

A day after Kerala recorded its highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases, the number of new patients came down to 927 on Sunday. However, Kerala still cannot heave a sigh of relief as the total number of coronavirus cases reported from the state moved closer to the 20k-mark.

The single-day case count crossed 1000-mark three times in the past week with 1,103 cases on Saturday (July 25), 1,078 on Thursday (July 23) and 1,038 on Wednesday (July 22).

From when the first case was confirmed in the state on January 30, 2020, it took 168 days, or five-and-a-half months to reach the 10k-mark on July 16. However, it took only 10 more days to cross 19,000 cases.

Of the new cases recorded on Sunday, 733 contracted the disease through contact. The source of infection of 67 among them is unknown.

As many as 76 infected persons came from abroad while 91 came from other states.

Sixteen health workers also tested positive in the state on Sunday – 8 from Thiruvananthapuram, 3 from Ernakulam, 2 from Alappuzha, one each from Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Kannur. Four BSF (Border Security Force) personnel in Thrissur, four KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) workers, one ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) personnel in Alappuzha, one DSC (Defence Security Corps) personnel in Kannur as well as a KLF staffer are also among the infected.

Two deaths were also recorded on the day – Thrissur native Varghese, 71 and Malappuram native Abdul Khader, 71. With this, the state's death toll rose to 61.

The state recorded 689 recoveries also on Sunday.

The state has reported 19,025 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 9,302 persons recovered. The remaining 9,655 patients are being treated in various hospitals.

Here's the district-wise break-up of today's cases:

Thiruvananthapuram - 175
Kasaragod - 107
Pathanamthitta - 91
Kollam - 74
Ernakulam - 61
Kozhikode - 51
Malappuram - 56
Kottayam - 54
Idukki - 48
Kannur - 48
Alappuzha - 46
Palakkad - 42
Thrissur - 41
Wayanad - 28

District-wise break-up of today's recoveries:

Malappuram - 121
Ernakulam - 107
Kollam - 70
Kannur - 70
Thrissur - 57
Thiruvananthapuram - 51
Alappuzha - 50
Pathanamthitta - 48
Kottayam - 37
Kasaragod - 34
Idukki - 31
Kozhikode - 8
Palakkad - 5

Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod districts reported over 100 COVID-19 cases on Sunday. Of the 107 cases in Kasaragod, 104 patients contracted the disease through contact. They include nine people without any travel history or any known source of infection. Five of the source-less cases have been reported in Manjeswar and the remaining from Udma, Vorkady, Valiyaparamba and Badiyadka.

Ninety-one cases were confirmed in Pathanamthitta – 53 contact cases and 38 imported ones. Source of infection is not identified in four cases reported from Ranni-Pazhavangadi, Thelliyoor, Pulikeezhu and Vadasserikkara. A staffer of Pulikeezh police station and an employee of KSRTC in Pathanamthitta are among them.

Of the 74 cases reported in Kollam, 59 contracted the disease through contact. A health worker of a hospital in Pulayanarkotta, Thiruvananthapuram, who is a native of Cheriyazheekal, has also tested positive.

All but one of the 61 cases reported in Ernakulam contracted the virus through contact.

In Malappuram, 56 more people tested positive. There are 33 contact cases among them and source of infection has not been traced in 23 cases. Eight of them are natives of Kondotty.

Fifty-four more cases were confirmed in Kottayam. Of them, 41 are contact cases. Most of the contact cases has been reported in Kottayam municipality – 11. Five members of a family at TV Puram, Vaikom, who came back from Bengaluru on July 14 and were home quarantined are among those tested positive.

Of the 48 cases confirmed in Idukki, 31 contracted the disease through contact. Source of infection is not known in the case of a police officer of Special Branch, Thodupuzha, and and an Udumbanchola native. The police officer had worked at Mullaringadu on special duty while the Udumbanchola natie had gone to a private hospital in Ernakulam for treatment.

Kannur reported 47 cases. This includes 28 contact cases. An anaesthesia technician of Government Medical College, Pariyaram, and a sub inspector of Muzhappilangad are among the patients.

Of the 46 cases in Alappuzha, 33 are contact cases. Two ITBP officers and a health worker are among the cases. Source is not known in one case.

Palakkad reported 42 cases. Fifteen more cases were detected in the antigen tests conducted in and around Pattambi.

A total of 1,56,162 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 1,47,182 are under home-quarantine and 8980 are in hospitals.

1,277 people were admitted in hospitals on Sunday.

So far, 6,72,748 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing. Of these, the test results of 7492 samples are yet to arrive.

In addition, as part of Sentinel Surveillance, 1,12,714 samples were collected from priority groups, such as health workers, guest workers, social contacts. Of them, 1,09,143 have returned negative.

On Sunday, 29 more regions have been converted into hotspots and 15 have been excluded from the list taking the total number of hotspots to 495 in the state.