The district reported 266 new cases on Wednesday, of which disease transmission through contact accounted for 242 cases (91%). In 12 cases, the source of infection remained uncertain, according to statistics released by the district administration
Fifty-nine inmates of the Central Prison, Poojappura, have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the Prisons Department to launch measures to check the disease from spreading.
The 59 inmates housed in block-7 had tested positive when antigen tests were performed on 100 inmates, a Prisons official said. This block is usually reserved for the senior inmates. The development has prompted the Prisons Department to extend the test to all the inmates.
One more person has died of COVID-19 in Thiruvananthapuram, taking the overall death toll due to the disease to 23 in the district. The deceased is a 50-year-old man hailing from Mariyapuram, authorities said.
Twenty persons have tested positive in Kuttichal.
The district administration has relaxed lockdown restrictions in critical containment zones along the coast with the COVID-19 caseload in the region showing a downward trend.
Shops selling essential food items will remain open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., as per the decision. Sub-registrar offices and scheduled banks can function with 50% staff strength. Petrol pumps too can operate from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., District Collector Navjot Khosa said.
The relaxations will be applicable to all three critical containment zones in coastal Thiruvananthapuram. The total lockdown in all three zones had been extended till August 16 on August 6. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, during his daily COVID-19 briefing, said that the restrictions were being relaxed given the decrease in caseload in the coastal areas.
As many as 646 people were placed under disease surveillance in the district on Wednesday, even as 233 others completed the observation period without developing symptoms. In all, 19,783 people are currently under surveillance in the district, of which 16,205 people are in home quarantine.
