THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A staffer in Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala’s office tested positive for Covid on Friday. However, the staffer was reportedly not coming to the office for over four days now and a decision about any of the leaders or staff going into quarantine has not been reached even late on Friday.On the day 814 fresh Covid cases were reported along with five deaths. Among them 644 cases are infections through local transmission while source of infection is not known in 150 cases. A total of 14 health workers are also among the confirmed cases on Friday, the highest in the state on the day.
The deceased are Rajesh (45) from Nedumangad, Vijayan (59) from Karamana, Thomas Cornelius (60) from Vellarada and Padmavathi (67) from Anayara. The district now has 8842 active cases among which 26 are children and 33 are pregnant patients.As on Friday, 1491 people are newly under observation in the district. 411 recoveries were also reported in the district.50 people who needed psychological support called mental health helpline. 4896 people in quarantine were called and offered mental support. 187 calls were made to the collectorate control room.
In the micro cluster at Snehatheeram in Kallara, more tests will be done in 10 days. There are close to 120 inmates here, of which 27 tested positive on Thursday along with three staff members. When a similar case was reported in Vembayam, more inmates had tested positive in further tests and the officials are treading cautiously.
The inmates will be tested again along with the positive patients in 10 days as per the protocol followed. “A medical team has already arrived. If any of the currently Covid negative patients show any symptoms they will also be tested. We are awaiting another medical team to join on Saturday. As of now, the patients are kept in a separate floor of the building from the rest of the inmates and staff,” said Sivadasan, president, Kallara panchayat.