In a steep fall from the past few weeks, the district recorded 15 new COVID-19 positive cases on Monday — 13 persons acquired infection through local contact, while two had returned from outside the State.
A 61-year-old from Idukki who was receiving treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, died late on Sunday. He had been receiving treatment for cancer at a private hospital when he tested positive and was shifted to the MCH.
A 25-year-old and a 24-year-old, both residents of Kalamassery and working with a private establishment, have tested positive. A 24-year-old from Assam working with a private company at Edappally has also been infected. One person has tested positive from Chellanam, three from Palluruthy, four from Edathala, one from Angamaly, and a 75-year-old from Parakadavu, whose source of infection remains uncertain.
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A total of 69 persons have recovered, and 813 are being treated for the disease. As many as 503 samples were sent for testing, and the test results of 506 cases are yet to be obtained. From private labs, 514 samples were collected for testing. As many as 302 antigen tests were conducted at Chowara, Fort Kochi, Chellanam, and other areas. At a convent in Koonammavu, where a nun had tested positive on Sunday, antigen tests were conducted, and all other 60 nuns tested negative.
In an online briefing, District Collector S. Suhas said the situation in the Aluva cluster had been stabilising with strict control, but vigil remained necessary. Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, and Palluruthy are areas of concern, he added. In Chenagamanad, Keezhmad, Choornikkara and Edathala panchayats, and in Kalamassery Municipality, permanent testing facilities will be made available. Within the Kochi Corporation limits, three more testing centres will be set up. Deputy Collectors have been placed in charge of the COVID fight as well as monsoon-related disaster relief in each taluk. To decentralise management of the disease, they will oversee the functioning of first-line treatment centres (FLTCs), besides enforcing all COVID-related protocol.
Around 7,900 beds are ready at FLTCs in the district —1,880 beds in municipalities, 5,773 in panchayats, and 234 in the Kochi Corporation. The target is to set up 8,000 to 9,000 beds, the Collector said.
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Security guard’s death
After the death of a security guard in an ambulance outside the District Hospital in Aluva on Monday, District Medical Officer N.K. Kuttappan said a report on the matter would be submitted to the District Collector. “Preliminary reports suggest that his COVID test result was negative, but that has not been confirmed yet. There was no delay in providing treatment,” he said. The guard, in his 60s, working in an apartment in Aluva, had complained of breathlessness and chest pain, after which he was taken to the District Hospital in an ambulance, but he died before he received treatment, municipal officials said. Hospital superintendent Dr. Prasanna said there had been no delay, and that when the medical team got to the patient, he was dead.