THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A total of 17 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the district on Friday, the highest ever daily number here. While 14 are those who arrived from abroad and other states, the source of infection of two cases are unknown. One is the primary contact of the Poonthura native who tested positive earlier. A 46-year-old police officer from Nagaroor who worked at the Secretariat and AR camp in Nandavanam recently and a 25-year-old Kozhivila native who do not have any travel history are the two patients with no known source of infection. A 38-year-old from Paruthikkuzhu in Manacaud is the nephew and primary contact of the Poonthura native.
A 49-year-old Thiruvattar native from Kanyakumari district who arrived from Saudi Arabia on Monday, a 27-year-old Tamil Nadu native who arrived from Sharjah on Monday, a 31-year-old Nedumangad native who got down at Karipur International Airport and is now under treatment at Mancheri Medical College, a 36-year-old Varkala Sreenivasapuram native who returned on Tuesday and is at Mancheri hospital, a 31-year-old soldier who arrived from Jammu Kashmir on June 16, a 27-year-old Thirumala native who arrived from Chennai by road on Tuesday, a 53-year-old Ayiroor native who arrived from Dammam, a 36-year-old Nemom native from Dubai, a 47-year-old Neyyattinkara RC street native along with his 7-year-old-daughter and 1-year-old son who were under home quarantine, a 52-year-old Kulathummal native from Dubai, a 30-year-old Kuttralam native who arrived on Monday from UAE and a 45-year-old from Chemmaruthy who returned from Saudi Arabia are the patients with travel history.
As many as 773 new people were put under observation in the district on Friday. Currently, 233 people are under hospital isolation in the district. As many as 18,009 people are under home quarantine. On Friday, 46 people were newly admitted to hospital and 49 people were discharged. A total of 427 samples were sent for testing, and 416 results received on the day tested negative.
Minister calls for vigil
Minister Kadakampally Surendran said there was no cause for worry in the district. “People should be careful and follow social distancing. The Covid tests will be increased. The situation doesn’t call for a complete closure of the district. Special preparations to do tests at the local level will be done through 2,750 booths. The service of the government officials who are unable to attend the work will be utilised to ensure this. Each booth will have at least six officials on duty,” said the minister after a Covid evaluation meeting here on Friday. The district collector will send a letter to VSSC director to ensure that they do tests of officials and staff travelling to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
MLA in self-quarantine
Neyyattinkara MLA K Ansalan is under self-quarantine after Vazhuthoor in Neyyattinkara where he lives has been declared a containment zone. The MLA will be available on 9995191282. All his official programmes have been cancelled until further notice.