THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district’s Covid tally showed no signs of slowing down with 259 more people testing positive for the infection on Saturday, including one death being reported from Nedumangad. The deceased is 62-year-old Babu. Of the new cases, 241 contracted the infection through local transmission. A police officer in Varkala, 14 health workers and an employee with a gas agency in Kattakada, which has over 2,000 consumers, are among the patients who tested positive on the day.
Though the gas agency employee was not on duty for a few days, his primary contacts are being identified and plans to conduct a massive test are underway. With over 30 cases being recorded in the span of two days, Neyyar dam is fast turning into a Covid cluster. As many as 16 cases were reported from the area on Saturday alone. “We cannot say it is a cluster yet.
All cases are members of families that live close by. The infection started spreading after two persons from the area contracted the virus – one from travelling and the other after availing treatment from a hospital. Over 300 primary and secondary contacts have been identified and rapid antigen tests are being conducted. Kallikkad, where the region falls under, is now a containment zone. The situation will be brought under control soon,” said C K Hareendran, MLA. Thumba, Kulathoor, Parassala, Parasuvaikkal and Balaramapuram also saw considerable rise in numbers.
67 defy lockdown curbs
The police on Saturday arrested 672 people in connection with lockdown violations in the state. A total of 785 cases were registered and 239 vehicles seized. The police identified as many as 5,305 people in the state who did not wear facemasks. Six cases were registered for quarantine violations. Despite the rise in Covid-19 positive cases and community transmission, Thiruvananthapuram rural has the most number of violators in the state.
5,000 PPE, antigen kits handed over
T’Puram: The district panchayat handed over 5,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and 5,000 antigen kits to the district administration on Saturday. Face shields were also among the supplies handed over by district panchayat president V K Madhu to District Collector Navjot Khosa. The kits will be used in quarantine centres, by ambulance drivers and other healthcare workers. Face shields will also be distributed to media persons. “We need to expand the tests to tribal communities in the district and if necessary we will get more kits,” said V K Madhu.
39labourers test positive
T’Puram: Labourers who were brought from other states to do construction work at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology tested positive for Covid. Tests were done among 69 labourers brought for the work, among which 39 tested positive.The labourers were strictly on quarantine from the date of arrival according to hospital authorities. All the patients are asymptomatic. They will be moved to first line Covid treatment centres soon.