COVID-19 transmission continued unabated in the capital district with 558 more people being diagnosed with the disease on Thursday. Barring three imported cases, as many as 555 cases have been attributed to local transmission.
The pandemic has so far claimed 129 lives with two more deaths – those of Parasuvakkal (65-year-old) and Amaravila (58-year-old) natives – being included in the district’s COVID-19 death toll.
Among the new cases, 49 cases with unknown sources of infection have been reported from various parts of the district including Chala, Thycaud, Ulloor, Manacaud, Edappazhinji, Vazhuthacaud, Beemapally and Valiyathura. As many as 483 people tested negative on the day.
The district authorities confirmed that the three fishermen who drowned after their boat capsized in the sea off Anchuthengu a day ago had suffered from COVID-19. The bodies were cremated on the premises of the St. Peter’s Forane Church, Anchuthengu in accordance with the COVID-19 protocol.
Village office closed
The Ulloor village office was closed on Thursday after an employee tested positive. While the office will resume functioning on September 14, all services can be obtained online or by contacting 0471-2462006, Thiruvananthapuram tahsildar A. Harishchandran said.
COVID-19 cases continued to mount in Attingal where three employees of a garment shop and six members of a family contracted the infection. One family member used to work in a textile shop where several employees tested positive few days ago. Kallikkad grama panchayat also recorded 19 new cases when 83 people were tested on the day.
Panic recedes in jail
Panic appeared to recede in the facilities of the Prisons Department in Poojappura. The Food of Freedom cafeteria, the prison-run petrol pump, garment store and men’s salon resumed functioning after nearly a month. The Central Jail in Poojappura had recorded 485 COVID-19 cases, and only 48 inmates and a jail official are yet to recover from the disease. While the inmates have been accommodated in a separate block on the prison premises, the officer is undergoing treatment in a hospital. They are all likely to be a subjected to a third round of testing on Monday.
