KOCHI: Ernakulam’s well chalked-out plans to contain Covid-19 spread seem to have gone awry.
A staggering 50 new persons tested positive for Covid-19 in the district on Sunday, of whom 41 were cases of local transmission. Signalling that community transmission of the virus could be a reality, source of infection in 29 of the 41 cases remains unknown.
The thickly-populated Chellanam, where a triple lockdown has been declared from Monday, alone has 17 cases whose sources of infection remain unknown.Though the area was identified a high-risk cluster from early July, the district health department is struggling to track the sources of all patients there. It was on July 3 that Chellanam reported its first case through local transmission – a 64-year-old native.
Meanwhile, with five cases in which the sources of infection remain unknown, Aluva too is causing concerns among officials.
However, an official with the district surveillance team said there was no need to panic. “Chellanam was already identified a high-risk area and the new cases are from known clusters. Since more cases have been reported from the same cluster on the same day, we are facing difficulty in tracking the sources. Still, we are checking everything and will prepare the contact list of those infected,” said the official.
The five new patients in Aluva whose sources of infection are unknown are two autorickshaw drivers (a 40-year-old Choornikkara native and a 43-year-old Chengamanad native) operating from Aluva market, a 23-year-old cleaning staffer and a 43-year-old staffer of Aluva municipality and an Aluva native whose details were not available.
Meanwhile, those who tested positive in the district on Sunday include a 36-year-old nurse with the General Hospital who was on the contact list of the 64-year-old Chellanam native. With this, three healthcare workers have contracted the disease in the district so far.
Earlier, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar, who is in charge of the Covid-19 fight in the district, had raised concerns over the rise in infections in Chellanam and Aluva. So far, 165 people contracted Covid-19 locally in the district, which has 329 active cases.
“The health department is tracking the details of cases having unknown sources. Door-to-door swab collection will be strengthened in Chellanam. We are ready for all eventualities,” said Dr S Sreedevi, district surveillance officer.