The district logged 20 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Of the fresh cases, six got the disease through contact, 10 had come from abroad and four from other States.
According to officials, one of the patients who contracted the disease through local transmission is a 49-year-old fish vendor associated with Kumarapuram market. He hailed from Thrikkunnapuzha. Another, a 43-year-old man native of Arookutty is associated with Chellanam harbour.
A 48-year-old man hailing from Arattupuzha works in the fishing sector in Thiruvananthapuram. A young man hailing from Thrikkunnapuzha is on the contact list of a COVID-19 patient from Kayamkulam. Another, is a 42-year-old man from Eramalloor on the contact list of a COVID-19 patient who also hailed from Eramalloor. A 60-year-old woman from Pattanakkad was on the contact list of a fisherman at Chellanam who tested COVID-19 positive earlier.
Health Department officials said that the collection and testing of samples for SARS-CoV-2 were intensified in the district following a spike in cases in recent days. Ward 7,8,9 and 10 in Thrikkunnapuzha and ward 1, 2 and 3 in Krishnapuram were declared as containment zones.
Meanwhile, the medical board has given nod to start plasma therapy to a 70-year-old COVID-19 patient undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Alappuzha. The plasma was brought from the MCH, Manjeri. MCH authorities said that they had started plasma therapy and the condition of the patient was improving.