The number of fresh COVID-19 cases to be reported from Kottayam continued to rise on Sunday with 1,703 people testing positive for the disease.
This was for the second consecutive day that the district reported over a 1,000 cases.
Mass testing
According to official sources, majority of the patients who tested positive during the day had given their samples during the mass testing drive held here on Friday and Saturday.
As many as 15,631 samples including that of the election officials and party workers were collected during the testing drive.
Of the fresh cases, 1,687 people contracted the disease through local transmission.
Among the local bodies, Kottayam led the tally with 122 cases, followed by Arppookkara with 81 cases. Changanassery reported 60 cases.
With 316 recoveries during the day, the total number of patients in Kottayam stood at 7,239
Meanwhile, the district on Sunday received 5,000 doses of the Covshield vaccine while it has a stock of 5,850 doses of Covaxin.
Kollam
The district reported a sharp spike in fresh COVID-19 cases with 802 people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Sunday.
While 796 people contracted the disease through contact, others include one NRI, three persons from another States and two health workers.
The tally was 472 and 448 on Saturday and Friday respectively. Kollam district currently has 13,185 people under observation and the total number of samples collected is 10,10,494. While 856 people completed home quarantine on Sunday, the Health Department has traced 2,05,059 primary and 15,938 secondary contacts of the fresh cases. The district also reported 256 recoveries on Saturday.
The Health Department has arranged extra beds and ICU units in all hospitals in the district. If the cases go up, District Hospital and Government Medical College Hospital, Paripally will be converted to COVID-19 hospitals. The patients placed in home care have been instructed to monitor their oxygen level and pulse rate using a pulse-oximeter. Any patient experiencing physical discomfort should seek medical help, said officials.
Alappuzha
The district logged 800 COVID-19 cases on Sunday. Among the fresh cases, 793 people contracted the disease through local transmission, while the source of infection of seven other people remains unknown.
Meanwhile, 387 people who were undergoing treatment for the disease in the district tested negative. The active COVID-19 caseload in the district stands at 4,975.
Pathanamthitta
Meanwhile in Pathanamthitta, 673 more people tested positive for the virus during the day. Of this, 639 were infected through local transmission while the infection source of 17 people were yet to be ascertained.
With 42 cases, Thiruvalla reported the highest number of cases, followed by the Pathanamthitta municipality with 27 cases. As many as 85 people recovered from the disease during the day.
( With contributions from bureaus in Kollam, Alappuzha Pathanamthitta )
