The district has become a centre of attraction with a sudden spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases. As many as 29 cases were reported here on Tuesday.
The district administration has assuaged the fears raised from certain quarters about the spike in the coronavirus infection.
“The spike is for obvious reasons. Palakkad, Malappuram and Kannur districts have witnessed the largest number of people returning home from other States and abroad. And 99% of the cases reported were either the returnees or their primary contacts,” said District Collector D. Balamurali.
Biggest check-post
Palakkad district has the biggest State border check-post at Walayar through which hundreds of people from other States arrive every day. Being a district that shares an active border with Tamil Nadu, Palakkad also has quite a large number of people living in Tamil Nadu.
“We cannot leave anyone unattended. We are trying to identify the positive cases by screening the profile and increasing the tests consistently,” said Mr. Balamurali.
During the first phase, 50 to 60 COVID-19 tests were conducted every day. Last week, the district saw an average of 200 tests a day. On Tuesday, as many as 331 tests were done in Palakkad.
“We are doing it in a systematic manner. The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases was quite expected. Even the spurt was on predicted lines,” said Mr. Balamurali.
Health officials said most number of cases tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic. Out of the 30 people tested positive on Tuesday, all but seven were asymptomatic.
It is an indication that Palakkad will witness a further spike in cases with a large number of returnees from other States and abroad standing a chance to test positive for the virus.
The institutional quarantine system system in the district has been strengthened with an eye on this potential spike. As many as 8,448 people in the district are currently under observation.
Mr. Balamurali, meanwhile, warned the people to observe the lockdown norms tightly. “If people behave properly by observing the norms, then we will not have to worry much. Otherwise, we will have to face community spread,” he said.
