The district’s COVID-19 graph continues to make the upward climb with 102 people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Saturday, taking the total caseload to 1,437.
Of the new cases, 47 patients contracted the disease through local transmission. Two health staff, a 58-year-old man from Muhamma whose source of infection is unknown, 32 who came from abroad, and 20 from other States also tested positive for the virus.
Among the contact cases, five policemen were on the contact list of a policeman at Alappuzha South police station who was diagnosed with the disease earlier. Another eight persons, including three from Vettakkal, two from Cherthala, two from Ezhupunna, and one from Chandiroor were on the contact list of COVID-19 patients associated with a seafood factory at Ezhupunna. Six people from Chettikkad were on the contact list of COVID-19 patients from the same place. Three natives and a person from Chengannur have links to the Kayamkulam market. Another two from Ezhupunna were on the contact list of COVID-19 patients with links to the Chellanam harbour. Rest of the local contact cases were reported from Pallippuram (six), Arookutty (three), Thamarakulam (three), two cases each from Alappuzha, Thaikkal, Karichal, and Cherthala and one case each from Pattanakkad and Chettikkad.
Ambulance driver
The two health staff diagnosed with COVID-19 include an ambulance driver from Alappuzha and a woman from Mulakuzha who works at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.
Meanwhile, 70 people, including 22 Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel at the Nooranad unit who were undergoing treatment for COVID-19, tested negative for the disease. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the district stands at 811. Ward 1 to 9 at Kavalam, ward 16 in Mararikulam South, and ward 11 in Pallippad grama panchayat were declared as containment zones.
