KOCHI: The Covid-19 situation in Ernakulam remains grim with the district reporting 128 fresh cases of infection on Sunday. While 85 were cases of local transmission, of which the sources of four are unknown, a total of 43 persons who came from abroad or other states also tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, 62-year-old A K Basheer, who collapsed and died at his house in Fort Kochi on Saturday, was confirmed to have Covid-19 on the day. As many as 36 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the illness. With this, the number of active cases in the district stands at 978.
A 54-year-old Kadavoor native, a 62-year-old Kavalangad native, a 57-year-old Chengamanad native, and a 33-year-old Varapetty native are among the latest to be confirmed infected with no known sources. Details regarding their possible sources of infection are being collected, the health department authorities said.Though the number of cases in the district continues to spiral, the officials are relieved that they were able to track almost 80 per cent of those who tested positive.
“Most of them figured in the contact list of patients who were infected earlier. The number of persons contracting the virus from unknown sources is low,” said a health official.However, the situation in Fort Kochi remains a concern for the authorities with 17 more persons confirmed infected on Sunday alone. Over 70 persons have been diagnosed with the disease in the area so far.
Another major concern is the rising number of Covid-infected healthcare workers. Seven more healthcare workers tested positive on the day, including four staff nurses at the Ernakulam General Hospital, two employees at the Piravom Taluk Hospital, and a Thrikkakara native working at the Aluva District Hospital.
At the same time, six more inmates of ‘Karunalayam’, a care home and convent at Thrikkakara, have been confirmed infected. So far, nearly 60 inmates here have been diagnosed with Covid. An eight-day-old infant of a Kothattukulam native and a 38-year-old nun at the Kunnamavu convent are also among the latest to contract the infection.
C K Gopi, a 60-year-old resident of Keezhmad near Aluva, who underwent treatment for Covid at the Medical College Hospital at Kalamassery and was discharged, died here on Sunday. According to hospital authorities, two sets of his samples tested negative consecutively before he was discharged. “As the results came negative in both tests, we cannot consider him as a Covid patient. But he had other comorbidities,” said a health official.