Twenty-six people from West Kochi and five officials of the Navy were among the 101 persons who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Monday.
A 71-year-old from Kadungalloor who was being treated for the disease at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, died on Monday. She had comorbities, including diabetes and hypertension, and was admitted to the ICU on developing pneumonia, said a release from the hospital.
Two infants about a year old, one from Palarivattom and the other from Fort Kochi, have been infected. Six positive cases each were reported from Chellanam and Thrikkakara.
An ASHA worker from Karuvelipady, a health worker at the District Hospital, Aluva, a health worker at the first-line treatment centre (FLTC) at Perumbavoor, and a health worker at the Piravom Taluk Hospital have been infected, besides a 28-year-old staff member at a private hospital.
Other positive cases were reported from Aluva, Edakochi, Edathala, Eloor, Karuvelipady, Nellikuzhi, Vengola, Thripunithura and Sreemoolanagaram.
Five people are in critical condition at the Government Medical College Hospital.
Nine people who arrived from outside the State have tested positive. Forty-seven people recovered and tested negative. Of the 1,212 people being treated for the disease in the district, 717 people are being treated at FLTCs.
District Collector S. Suhas said in an online briefing on Monday that the densely populated Nellikuzhi panchayat remained an area of concern with all wards, except two, registering positive cases. If strict regulations were not implemented, the infection could spread to other parts of Kothamangalam, he said.
Nellikuzhi panchayat president Renjini Ravi said that people who had attended a function had acquired the infection. Since the members of a family who had attended the function ran a hotel, the infection had spread to about eight other families, she said.
The cluster containment strategy had been effective in Aluva, Edathala and Choornikkara where the number of cases had reduced, but vigil would have to be maintained in areas such as Sreemoolanagaram and Thrikkakara, said the Collector.
The Adlux convention centre at Angamaly would soon be converted into a second-line treatment centre to take in category B patients, he added. In the West Kochi area, where 254 positive cases were reported till Sunday, an FLTC began functioning at Mattancherry.
