Ernakulam with a COVID-19 test positivity rate of 5.97% has been efficient in its pandemic control measures, according to a communication from the district information office.
The overall test positivity rate in the State is 9.95%. Only Kasaragod has a test positivity rate that is less than that of Ernakulam.
District Collector S. Suhas attributed the low test positivity rate to the joint effort of various departments in containing the pandemic.
Ernakulam tops in the number of tests held and 93.6% of the targeted tests could be held.
Mr. Suhas said that the district, with most number of aged people, had done well in measures like reverse quarantine. A total of 5,009 people in the 146 old age homes in Ernakulam were tested for the infection. The fight, he said, was being jointly led by the government and the private sector. While government hospitals had 160 ICU beds and 159 ventilators, private hospitals had 1,250 ICU beds and 338 ventilators, he said.
Ernakulam on Saturday recorded 665 fresh cases and 492 recoveries. Six health workers also contracted the infection. Of the new patients, 147 infections could not be traced to a source. Payipra recorded 31 cases, Vazahkkulam 23, Okkal 21 and Thripunithura 19. While 1,347 people were brought under disease surveillance, taking the total to 28,292, the total number of patients in the district stood at 8,146.
