Kerala recorded two COVID-19 deaths on Friday, taking the total number of people died due to the disease to 10.
Jose Joy, 38, from Pandanad gram panchayat in Chengannur died at Alappuzha Government Medical College and Joshy, 68, from Thiruvalla breathed his last at the Kottayam Government Medical College.
Both returned from Abu Dhabi early in May.
Jose was under observation after he showed COVID-19 signs. He died at 3pm on Friday. His coronavirus infection was confirmed at 10pm, seven hours after his death. He was under treatment for liver-related ailments too.
Thiruvalla native Joshy was a diabetes patient.
After his return from Abu Dhabi on May 11, Joshy was shifted to Pathanamthitta General Hospital on May 18 where he was tested positive. He was later transferred to Kottayam Medical College on May 26.
"This person along with his wife had gone to visit their son in the UAE. He was obese and a diabetic patient. On May 18 his condition worsened and was moved to the general hospital at Pathanamthitta.
On May 26, his condition became very serious and he was moved to the Kottayam Medical College hospital and was put on ventilator. Sadly he passed away today morning," said Health Minister Shailaja.
Meanwhile a 80-year-old woman who came with her family on Thursday by train from Mumbai is in critical condition.
Though hailing from Thrissur, since she had severe breathing problems, she was straight away moved to the Kochi Medical College hospital and was put on ventilator.
She has been tested COVID positive, while her family members' test results are awaited.
KK Shailaja told the media that Kerala does not come under a community spread area as with the arrival of Keralites in large numbers from within the country and abroad the state which had flattened the curve showed spike in COVID cases.
"The problem is what we see now is on expected lines as after May 7, when lockdown norms were eased and people from within the country and abroad started coming, we expected this would happen, as most are coming from epicentres of positive cases.
"There is no need for any concern as things are under control as there is no cluster cases because we track, trace and isolate very effectively. At the same time, we cannot be complacent as all rules of lockdown have to be abided by," said Shailaja.
"It must be recalled that in the first phase the rate of contact spread was 30 per cent and now with more and more cases being reported, the contact spread has come down to 15 per cent and this is something very positive. This shows that there is no community spread," added Shailaja.
On Thursday, Kerala recorded the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases with 84 people being tested positive for the virus.
Earlier this week, a Telangana native who arrived in Kerala by train and Kozhikode native Asiya succumbed to the virus.
Amina (52, Wayanad), Khadeejakkutty (73, Thrissur), Yakub Husain Sait (69, Ernakulam), Abdul Azeez (68, Thiruvananthapuram), Mehroof (67, Mahe, UT of Puducherry) and four-month-old baby (Malappuram) were the other six deceased in Kerala.
Mehroof and the Telangana native deaths are included in Kerala's list based on a union government guideline, which stated that deaths should be accounted where it occurs irrespective of which state the person hailed from.
As many as 577 people are undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in the state.
