Health workers in Kozhikode have been alerted against possible SARS-CoV-2 infection in children even as the district recorded 2,252 more COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the active case pool above 20,000 again.
At an online meeting attended by Forests Minister A.K. Saseendran and Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas, it was pointed out that there was a possibility of the virus infecting children aged up to 18. Many of them were found to be getting infected from home from those already affected.
Mr. Saseendran suggested shifting infected elder persons to other facilities to protect children. Mr. Riyas said a panel of paediatricians should be formed to coordinate the treatment of COVID-19 cases among children. He also called for strict enforcement of pandemic protocols in areas with a low test positivity rate (TPR) and combined efforts to thwart a third wave of the infection.
District Collector N. Tej Lohit Reddy said that infected persons who did not have quarantine facility at home were being shifted to domiciliary care centres. The local bodies that do not have such centres had been asked to set them up as early as possible.
It has been decided to conduct COVID-19 tests on all those who seek treatment at private health clinics in the district. Contact tracing will be intensified in all local bodies. All those who seek outpatient treatment in hospitals too will be examined. People who violate home quarantine will be shifted to care centres. Disinfection will be carried out in public places such as markets. Mr. Reddy said the construction of oxygen plants at the Government Medical College Hospital and the Government General Hospital would be fast-tracked to avoid possible oxygen shortage.
S. Harikishore, special COVID officer for the district, said Kozhikode had 150 vaccination centres and steps should be taken to make vaccines available there.
District Medical Officer V. Jayasree said in a release that 2,233 of the fresh cases reported on Saturday were due to local transmission of the infection. The source of 16 others was not known. A daily TPR of 14.33% was recorded when 16,079 samples were tested. Kozhikode Corporation accounted for 387 locally acquired infections, Koyilandy 62, Kunnamangalam 59, Kakkodi 57, Perumanna 56, Puthuppady 55, Koduvally 53, and Unnikulam 52. As many as 1,348 people recovered from the infection and the active caseload in the district is now 20,676.