Kannur district continues to witness spike in COVID-19 cases with another 17 persons testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Wednesday.
Of the total 17 cases, three had returned from abroad and 11 had come back from other States. Three got infected through contact.
Those who were infected through contact included a 27-year-old woman from Koothuparamba, a 49-year-old woman from Muzhappilangad and a 52-year-old CISF official from Mysore.
Those who had come from abroad included a 60-year-old man from Ramanthali, a 49-year-old man from Munderi and a 51-year-old man from Kerivallur-Peralam panchayat.
Those who returned from other States included a 58-year-old man from Pinarayi, a 36-year-old man from Alakkode, a 25-year-old youth from Mattannur, a 58-year-old CISF personnel, a 27-year-old man of Paya, a 56-year-old woman, a 23-year-old woman, another 36-year-old man, a 6-year-old boy and a 2-year-old boy, all natives of Kottiyoor, and a 42-year-old native of Kadambur.
With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the district has rose to 372. Of these, 250 people have been discharged after treatment.
In Palakkad
Sixteen persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Palakkad district on Wednesday, taking the total number of infected persons currently under treatment to 195. All of them had come back from the Gulf on different dates.
While seven had returned from Kuwait, four had come back from Abu Dhabi, three from Saudi Arabia and one each from Dubai and Oman. One of them was admitted to Government Medical College Hospital, Manjeri, and all others were shifted to the District Hospital in Palakkad.
In Malappuram
In Malappuram district, 10 more persons tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. While eight of them were returnees from abroad, two had come back from other States.
The total number of infected persons currently under treatment in the district stood at 200 on Wednesday.
In Thrissur
Fourteen new COVID-19 cases were reported in Thrissur district on Wednesday. Of them, 12 are migrant labourers who arrived from West Bengal on June 15.
A 36-year-old man from Varanthirappally who supplied food for the workers was infected through contact. Another person, who came from Bengaluru on June 21, was also tested positive. He is under treatment at Government Medical College, Kozhikode.
In all, 127 persons are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the district. Seven persons from the district are being treated at other districts. There are now 15,620 persons under observation.
The 12 migrant workers, who tested positive, were under institutional quarantine after they arrived from West Bengal on June 15, according to the Health Department.
They were among the 35 workers who were brought by L&T Company in a special bus from West Bengal for the emergency work of Transgrid Power line from Pariyaram to Chalakudy. Five of them had tested positive earlier.
“All of them were in institutional quarantine. As they had to work in public places, COVID test was conducted for them on the direction of KSEB. The rest of the people, 18 of them, are remaining in institutional quarantine,” said a district administration press release.
Meanwhile, four more areas in the district have been declared as containment zones. The new zones are wards 7, 8, 11, 15, 19 and 20 of Kunnamkulam Municipality, wards 06, 07 and 09 of Kattakambal panchayat; wards 14, 15 and 16 of Kadavallur panchayat and divisions 13, 32, 35, 36, 39, 48 and 49 of Thissur Corporation.
In Ernakulam
Eight more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Ernakulam district on Wednesday. They included a 33-year-old from Kalamassery who arrived here from Kuwait on June 12 and a 44-year-old relative of the person. A four-year-old child related to them has also been tested positive.
Meanwhile, the list of primary contacts of a person from near Malayattoor, who tested positive on Tuesday, and his wife, a health worker who was also found to be infected, is being prepared. Those being screened for COVID-19 now are 72 children, who were immunised by the health worker, and their parents. Forty-nine persons are in the primary contact list of the husband of the health worker. Wards 1, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 were declared containment zone on Tuesday night following the development. Ward 15 of the Neeleswaram panchayat too has been declared a containment zone as several contacts of the health worker’s husband were traced to this place.
Minister for Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar said COVID-19 tests should be made mandatory for health workers engaged in immunisation programmes. He said this at a meeting of health workers and other officials in the district to review the situation.
Man absconds
An expatriate has gone absconding in violation of the quarantine protocol in Kothamangalam, raising an alarm among the health fraternity.
The 46-year-old from Pindimana had returned home from Abu Dhabi via Thiruvananthapuram on June 21. He was supposed to undergo home quarantine. However, following public complaint that he was acting in violation of that direction, health authorities came calling but could not track him down.
His mobile phone was also in switched-off mode. The police have registered a case against him invoking the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance. K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural), has warned of stern action against those found violating the quarantine protocol. He said that the police had stepped up vigil in Sreemoolanagaram following the lockdown in the six wards of the panchayat. No concessions are being extended on movement of people and vehicles. Only essential services have been allowed to operate even as 35 personnel from the police are patrolling the streets to enforce the lockdown. Clear instructions have been issued on the lockdown and localities have been demarcated.
Four persons were cured of the disease in the district on Wednesday. They included a naval staff hailing from Rajasthan, who tested positive on May 26. A West Bengal native was also discharged from hospital.
In Wayanad
Two more COVID-19 cases were reported in Wayanad district on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases so far to 79. A 36-year-old man of Meppadi who returned from Dubai on June 12 and a 41-year-old man of Noolpuzha who returned from Hyderabad on June 20 were confirmed to have contracted the virus, District Medical officer R. Renuka said. Both were shifted to the District Hospital at Mananthavady.
Of the 79 cases reported in the district so far, 48 had recovered from the disease, she added. (With inputs from Palakkad, Malappuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Wayanad bureaus)
