THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With increased testing being the health department’s prime focus, a new Covid testing centre will begin functioning at the General Hospital (GH) in Thiruvananthapuram on November 2. The centre will collect swab samples for RTPCR tests and conduct antigen tests as well. The department is also setting up Covid test kiosks.
“The centre at GH will be helpful for people who complete the quarantine period. Work on the kiosks is progressing. We have brought in private parties too. That should help in increasing the number of samples tested across the district every day,” said a top health official.
As many as 785 people tested positive for Covid on Wednesday, in tune with the average of 700-800 cases per day over the past two weeks in the district. Among the new cases, 582 persons contracted the infection through local transmission, with 22 of them being healthcare workers. It is after more than a week that the number of healthcare workers testing positive in the district is crossing 20.
Five deaths were also confirmed on the day. Thankappan Ashari (80) from Peroorkada, Sukumaran (79) from Nettayam, Soman (67) from Nemom, Sethukutti Amma (90) from Malayinkeezhu and Krishna Pillai (90) from Manacaud are the deceased.
As on Wednesday, there are 8,778 active cases in the district. As many as 594 recoveries were reported on the day while 2,013 people were newly put under observation.Meanwhile, 430 people who violated Covid protocol were taken to task by sectoral officers deployed across the district. While 14 cases were charged, 57 people were fined and 315 people were let off with warnings.