A 51-year-old resident of Thuruthy who had been receiving treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, died on Monday night. The deceased had returned from Kuwait on June 19 and was admitted to hospital on June 26. He was a diabetic and was in a critical condition.
A total of 72 persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the district on Monday — 63 persons acquired the infection through local contact, and nine had returned from outside the State.
From the Chellanam cluster, 19 persons have tested positive. Ten persons have tested positive from the Aluva cluster, along with four from Kanjoor who contracted the infection from the cluster.
Four health workers have tested positive — a 36-year-old doctor who was on the contact list of another doctor of a private hospital, a 24-year-old health worker at the primary health centre at Keezhmad and her 57-year-old relative have tested positive, a 36-year-old health worker at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, and a 52-year-old health worker from Alangad at the Ernakulam General Hospital (GH). Three family members of a health worker from Varapetty have also tested positive.
From the recent cases, it has emerged that the Aluva and Keezhmad clusters have been spreading to the nearby panchayats of Choornikkara, Alangad, Karumalloor, Edathala, Kadungalloor, and Chengamanad, said a press release here. “We are moving towards a situation in which we might find positive cases wherever we test,” said Dr. N.K. Kuttappan, District Medical Officer. “In places like the GH, crowding caused by bystanders will have to be restricted. The freedom of movement after lockdown restrictions eased, and movement of supplies through markets seems to be taking the infection even to distant rural areas,” he added.
The source of infection of four patients has not been identified — a 34-year-old from Vadakkekara, a 39-year-old from Okkal, a 71-year-old from Kalamassery, and an 18-year-old from Kalady.
A 52-year-old employee of the Excise Department, who had come into contact with a patient, has tested positive. Six persons on the contact list of an employee of a private establishment at Edappally and four contacts of a patient from Chittattukara have been infected. A 71-year-old nun from a convent at Keezhmad, who had come into contact with a patient, has tested positive. Five sailors have also tested positive. Ten days after the death of a Kuzhuppilly-based nun and her sample subsequently turning positive, the case has been factored into the district’s number of COVID-19 positive patients.
Eight persons have recovered from the disease, and 836 patients are being treated. District Collector S. Suhas said in an online briefing that 3,600 additional beds had been set up at first-line treatment centres (FLTC) so far. The priority was to set up such beds in coastal panchayats first, he said. In the next few days, 10,000 beds are to be set up. As many as 1,500 food kits will be distributed in Chellanam on Tuesday.
Ward 14 of Choornikkara panchayat, Ward 8 of Kalady panchayat, Ward 2 of Kumbalam panchayat, Ward 11 of Chengamanad panchayat, Ward 17 of Malayatoor-Neeleeswaram panchayat, and Division 48 of Thripunithura Municipality were declared containment zones late on Sunday. Division 35 of Thripunithura Municipality has been converted into a micro containment zone.
