Thiruvananthapuram: SARS-CoV-2 now seems to behave like an apparitions in a B-grade horror film. One moment you see it flitting past a moonlit leafless tree far in front, and the next moment you hear it giggling a few paces behind you.
After drawing Kerala's attention to the north, the China-born virus has, almost in a flash, made its presence felt around the southern periphery of central Kerala from where it was thought to be exorcised. All the eleven fresh cases reported in Kerala on Sunday are from Kottayam and Idukki, two districts that were just a week ago thought to be virus-free.
Thanks to consistent minor spurts, the number of COVID-19 cases has once again started to gallop; fresh cases in the last seven days have far outdone the fresh cases in the previous seven days. If the last seven days had 57 new cases, the previous seven days had just 26.
Idukki and Kottayam, which had zero positive cases all of April till the 21st, now has 10 and 11 positive cases respectively. Along with Kozhikode, which is in the red zone, Kottayam becomes the district with the third highest number of positive cases in Kerala. A dramatic turnaround in less than a week.
Surprise in Kottayam
The new cases have also stumped the district administration. A couple of positive cases from the Kottayam market cluster was expected as a headload worker there had tested positive on April 25. But four of the five new cases in Kottayam have emerged elsewhere. A greater worry is the presence of two nurses in the list; one is said to be a nurse working in Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram and the other working in Kottayam General Hospital.
"We still are not sure from where they have got infected. The nurses might have got infected from the patients who had turned up at the hospitals. We will try our best to make the connection today itself," a top source in the district administration said.
The virus presence in nurses, a source said, was picked up as part of he sentinel surveillance that is being carried out to detect the presence of virus in vulnerable groups outside Kerala's surveillance network.
One new case has some from outside, and a district administration source said the patient had come infected into Kerala.
Spain returnee tests positive after 42 days
Though there are higher number of cases in Idukki (six), it seems not to have thrown up any major complications for the district administration. The route of infection of the positive cases is apparently clear.
One person had come from Spain on March 15. The district administration is nearly sure the patient had come infected from Spain though he has tested positive only 42 days after his return. Two had sneaked in from Tamil Nadu.
Three others, including a doctor, had close contacts with a patient who had tested positive on April 24. This patient, a 65-year-old woman, had reached Elappara in Idukki from Mysore on March 25. The three primary contacts of this patient are a doctor she had visited, a man who regularly sells her eggs and a family member. The Elappara Primary Health Centre has been shut down.
Low recoveries
Sunday also saw lower recoveries; there were just four recoveries for 11 new cases. One each had recovered in Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram, Kannur and Kasaragod. Kannur now has 55 active cases, and the active number in Kasaragod has come down to 15, just four more than in Kottayam. The once worst affected and the once virus-free districts are quickly closing the gap.
With 11 more testing positive on Sunday, Kerala has 468 confirmed cases. Of this, 342 or 73.08 per cent have recovered. Now it has also been decided to step up testing of those in quarantine and also among vulnerable groups. This could lead to a spike in cases for the next two or three days.
Earlier Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan interacted with district collectors via videoconference.
What chief minister said during his video conference with district collectors:
• People's safety should be given priority while relaxing the lockdown
• Lockdown aims to protect the lives of people
• Things should not go out of hand while relaxing lockdown restrictions
What chief minister said in his weekly television programme
• Controversies will not force the government to reverse its decisions
• Lockdown was implemented for the safety of the people. Relaxation will be taken step-by-step after analysing the situation
• Necessary steps have been taken to ensure essential food supplies in COVID hotspot and red zones
