Thiruvananthapuram: 702 people tested positive for coronavirus and 745 patients were cured of COVID-19 in Kerala on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed during his press conference at Thiruvananthapuram.
Of the new cases recorded on Monday, 483 contracted the disease through contact. The source of infection of 35 among them is unknown. Seventy-five infected persons came from abroad while 91 came from other states. Forty-three health workers also tested positive in the state on Monday.
The official toll rose to 63 with health department recording two more deaths – Kozhikode native Mohammad, 61 and Kottayam native native Ouseph George, 85 - on Monday.
The state has reported 19,727 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 10,054 persons recovered. The remaining 9,611 patients are being treated in various hospitals.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Thiruvananthapuram – 161
Malappuram – 86
Idukki – 70
Kozhikode – 68
Kottayam – 59
Palakkad – 41
Thrissur – 40
Kannur – 38
Kasaragod – 38
Alappuzha – 30
Kollam - 22
Pathanamthitta – 17
Wayanad – 17
Ernakulam – 15
District-wise breakup of recoveries:
Alappuzha – 150
Malappuram – 88
Thiruvananthapuram – 65
Ernakulam – 69
Kollam – 57
Pathanamthitta – 49
Wayanad – 49
Thrissur – 45
Kottayam – 13
Idukki – 25
Palakkad – 9
Kozhikode – 41
Kannur – 32
Kasaragod – 53
The single-day case count had crossed the 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.
Hyper-local details
Thiruvananthapuram district topped the list of COVID cases yet again with 161 cases, followed by Malappuram with 86 cases.
Of the 86 cases in Malappuram, 67 contracted the disease through contact. Source of infection is not known in 34 cases. Most of them have been reported from Kondotty and Pallikkal areas.
Idukki, where the number of daily cases has been comparatively low, came to the top of the chart on Monday. The hilly district reported 70 cases with 51 of them contracting the disease through contact. Nineteen of the contact cases were reported in Cheruthoni and nine each from Rajakad and Vannappuram.
Kozhikode reported 68 cases. Of them, 37 are contact cases. Source of infection is unknown in seven cases. Of them, seven belong to the Kozhikode corporation.
Of the 59 cases reported in Kottayam, 48 are contact cases. Of the 65 people tested in Ettumanoor market, 47 turned positive.
In Palakkad, 41 more people tested positive. Of them, 15 are contract cases, with source unknown in three cases. Source has not been traced in the cases of two natives of Alanalloor, aged 15 and 26, and a 30-year-old man of Thenkara.
Forty more cases were reported in Thrissur. There are 26 contact cases among them. Five people tested positive in KLF cluster, seven in KSE cluster and eight in Pattambi cluster.
In Kannur, 23 health workers tested positive. Total 38 cases were reported. Four police personnel also tested positive.
Of the 38 cases reported in Kasaragod, 26 are contact cases. Source of infection is not identified in two cases. Of the contact cases, 15 were reported from Chemmanad panchayat.
Thirty people tested positive in Alappuzha. Of them, 21, including a health worker, contracted the virus through contact.
Kollam district saw a sharp fall in fresh cases with only 22 testing positive. However, of them 21 contracted the virus through contact. Four of them are health workers in a private medical college in Kollam. This is the first time the district reported less than 50 cases in a day since July 18.
Pathanamthitta reported only 17 cases. Five of them are contact cases. Wayanad also reported 17 cases. Of them, 15 are contact cases. Eight members of a family at Valadu who had attended the funeral of a person, who died at Kozhikode medical college, have tested positive.
Ernakulam reported the least number of cases - 15. Thirteen f them contracted the virus through contact.
Of the 17 cases reported in Wayanad, 15 were infected through contact. Sulthan Bathery in the district has been declared as a critical cluster.
Testing and quarantine
A total of 1,55,147 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 1,45,750 are under home or institutional quarantine and 9,397 are in hospitals. 1,237 people were admitted to the hospital on Monday.
During the last 24 hours, 18,417 samples were tested. A total of 6,88,163 samples have so far been sent for testing and the results of 3,842 samples are awaited. Of the 1,14,832 samples collected from high-risk groups as part of Sentinel Surveillance, 1,11,105 samples were negative.
There are 18 new hotspots while 17 areas have been excluded from the list. There are now 495 hotspots in the state.
Key points from CM's speech:
• Lockdown to continue in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation as the situation remains serious.
• As of Monday, 101 COVID-19 First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTCs) are functional in the state.
• 480 more CFLTCs will be operational in the state soon.
• Government has held discussions with representatives from various sectors regarding the restrictions and measures to be taken to check the spread of coronavirus.
• 45 per cent of the 12,801 beds at the CFLTCs have been occupied as of Monday.
• Till Sunday, 21 women and 40 men died of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. Thiruvananthapuram registered most number of deaths – 11. Most of the people who died were between the age group of 60 to 70.
• A committee headed by Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta will study the situation in Thiruvananthapuram district. A decision on the relaxations in curbs will be taken based on the team's report.
• Aluva municipality and its nearby panchayats, Fort Kochi in Ernakulam district, Majeswaram, Kasaragod municipality in Kasaragod district, Kondotty in Malappuram and Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad district are critical clusters.
• 1,571 people received training to work in the 'COVID Brigade.'
• Government has taken note of delay in the release of COVID test results. Authorities will make sure the results are available within 24 hours after the sample collection.
• All police personnel on duty will be subjected to COVID-19 tests.
