Kerala continued to report an increase in COVID-19 cases with 62 persons, including 49 expatriates and Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKs) from other States, testing positive on Saturday. The rest 13 are cases acquired through contact with known or unknown sources of infection. They include seven health-care workers.
Palakkad district accounted for 19 cases, Kannur 16, Malappuram 8, Alappuzha 5, Kozhikode and Kasaragod 4 each, Kollam 3, Kottayam 2 and Wayanad 1.
Eighteen cases were reported in persons who came from abroad, including Gulf nations, Singapore and the Maldives, while 31 persons had come from other States, primarily, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Three persons were reported to have recovered from the disease.
The exponential increase in COVID-19 cases in the State, following the massive influx of expatriates and NoRKs from various parts of the country where disease transmission is intense, is threatening to swamp the public health system.
At present, 275 patients are undergoing treatment in various hospitals in the State. Till date, Kerala has reported 794 cases, with 515 having recovered from the disease. Kerala so far had 88,640 arrivals from abroad and other States.
Nearly 7,000 more people were added to the COVID-19 surveillance list by the State, taking the total number under quarantine to 91,084. Of these, 668 persons are under observation in isolation wards in hospitals and 90,416 persons are in either home or institutional quarantine. So far samples from 52,771 persons have been tested, of which 51,045 yielded a negative result. As part of the sentinel surveillance for assessing community transmission, another 7,672 samples have been tested so far. Of these, 7.147 samples have been negative.
Nine more areas in Palakkad and Kannur districts were designated as hotspots. At present, there are 37 hotspots in the State.
