THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of the efforts to increase the number of Covid tests in the district, the new testing centre at the General Hospital here will start functioning from Monday. The centre will offer both antigen and RT-PCR tests.
However, despite the testing rate being increased, the number of Covid cases per day in the district continues to average around 700 to 800. In fact, another 790 persons were confirmed Covid infected on Saturday, 643 of whom contracted the virus through local transmission.
After a surprising rise to 22 healthcare workers testing positive on a single day earlier in the week, the daily numbers have gone down again with only seven healthcare workers diagnosed with the disease on Saturday.
Meanwhile, as many as 562 patients recovered from the disease. A total of 25,005 people are currently under Covid-related surveillance in the district, 171 of whom are in various quarantine centres. At the same time, the sectoral officers deployed across the district took action against 321 persons in the district for violating Covid protocol.
Up to 33 cases were charged, 43 persons were fined, and 223 were let off with a warning. Aruvippara and Koothakodu in Malayinkeezhu, and Vadoorkonam and Pazhaya Uchakkada in Karode were declared as micro-containment zones.