The COVID-19 situation in Malabar showed no respite on Wednesday with seven persons, including a health worker, testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Kozhikode district and six fresh cases being reported from Wayanad.
Wayanad District Collector Adeela Abdulla declared the Sulthan Bathery Municipality a containment zone, in addition to several wards in two grama panchayats.
The containment zones are 4, 5, and 6 wards of Muttil grama panchayat, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 18 wards of Meenangadi grama panchayat, 8, 9, 10 wards of Thavinhal panchayat and all the 35 divisions of Sulthan Bathery municipality.
In Kozhikode
A 26-year-old woman from Malappuram who had been under observation for COVID-19, died in Kozhikode on Wednesday.
A cancer patient, she had been admitted to a private hospital in the city after her arrival from Dubai. Her body fluid samples had been sent to check if she was infected.
A release said that the new patients included a 46-year-old and a 42-year-old from Maniyoor, and 42-year-old persons from Vadakara and Atholi who had returned recently from Kuwait. All the four were under observation at a COVID-19 care centre. They had been shifted to the first-line treatment centre at Lakshadweep Guest House, the release said.
The fifth patient was a 39-year-old from Kuttiady who had returned from Bahrain on May 31. He was shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital after displaying COVID-19 symptoms. The sixth patient was a 34-year-old from Kavilumpara who returned from Abu Dhabi on May 27 and had been in home quarantine since then. He was shifted to the first-line treatment centre on May 31 after testing positive for the virus. The seventh patient was a 31-year-old health worker who was undergoing treatment at Aster MIMS Hospital, Kozhikode.
There are 40 active COVID-19 cases in the district right now. A total of seven persons hailing from Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, and Malappuram districts too are in the Medical College Hospital. Six patients from Kannur are at Aster MIMS Hospital, and one from Thrissur at MVR Cancer Centre and Research Institute.
The number of those under observation is 7,644, of whom 2,873 are expatriates. On Wednesday, five persons were declared cured of the disease.
In Thrissur
A man from Abu Dhabi attended the funeral of his father at Karalam in Thrissur district on Wednesday violating the quarantine guidelines.
Kundukulangara Ouseph, 64, had collapsed and died on Tuesday. The health department was informed that nobody from outside Kerala would attend the funeral. However, his son Sibi arrived from Abu Dhabi for the rituals. He had earlier arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram airport and reached Karalam by car.
As there is a guideline that NRIs should undergo seven days of institutional quarantine, his visit created tension. As a result, many relatives kept off the funeral.
The health department sent Sibi and 12 of his relatives who attended the funeral to quarantine.
