The district reported a sharp dip in COVID -19 cases with the tally coming down to 25 on Tuesday.
The patients include 21 contact cases, one health worker, and three others who travelled from Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Tamil Nadu. The health worker who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 is a 31-year-old Perumpuzha resident who was working in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
Kollam currently has 15,073 persons under observation and the total number of samples collected is 45,154. While 1,111 persons completed home quarantine on Wednesday, the Health Department has traced 17,681 primary and 4,944 secondary contacts of the fresh cases. At present 12 COVID-19 first-line treatment centres (FLTCs) are operating in the district and the number of recoveries on Tuesday is 67.
For the last few days, the district has been reporting an increase in caseload, the number of new patients hitting an all-time high of 234 on Saturday. Kollam at present has 1,453 active cases and a total of 131 persons from the district, including one health worker, tested positive on Monday.
During the last few days Kollam Corporation, Perinad, Panmana, Neendakara and Alappad reported highest number of cases. “Though Alappad reported several cases on Tuesday, they are all contacts inside the containment zone. All the four affected wards are under close monitoring and intensive testing is also going on. In Chavara and Panmana, there were positive cases among those who attended a wedding and the transmission started from there,” said an official.
According to the Health Department, a number of persons from fishermen families tested positive in the last couple of days including the 20 cases on Tuesday. “Fishers from containment zones are not allowed to venture into the sea and strict action will be taken against those violating norms. Men from some families had already gone for fishing and steps have been taken to locate and test them. We are expecting the caseload to decline in the coming days,” she adds.
Meanwhile, Government Medical College Hospital, Kollam, reported three deaths, though the final swab reports of all three patients from NIV, Alappuzha are awaited. The cases include a 70-year-old Kaikulangara resident, 45-year-old Cheriyavelinallor resident, and a 25-year-old Anchal resident.
