As many as 29 people, including two PG doctors at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the district on Thursday.
Officials said all but one of the patients contracted the virus through local transmission. Of this, nine persons were from Athirampuzha panchayat and three persons each from Ettumanur municipality and Kurichy panchayat.
49 cured
At the same time, 49 persons who recovered from the disease were discharged from hospitals. There are 541 active cases in Kottayam. The district also recorded 564 recoveries so far.
Officials said the clusters in Kottayam, except Ettumanur, were on the declining path. While Ettumanur reported 15 cases, Changanassery reported just five cases. Taking a serious note of the situation, Ettumanur municipal authorities are planning to conduct 100 antigen tests there.
Though the explosion of cases in and around Changanassery has largely subsided, authorities are embarking on a plan to implement cluster containment strategies for adjacent villages.
Authorities have intensified monitoring of COVID-19 protocol at the taluk level by deploying a joint team of revenue, police, and LSGD officials. Cases were registered against 59 persons for violating the guidelines.