KANNUR/ MALAPPURAM: Amid the ebb in fresh cases reported in some areas, the Covid situation on Wednesday remained unabated in Kannur, with the district recording the second highest number of positive cases(27) in as many days. However, it is the fresh cases of seven CISF personnel from the camp at Valiya Velicham near Kuthuparamba which has fuelled fresh concerns. Those infected hail from Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The spiralling cases has yet again triggered fears of local transmission here. Of the 27 fresh cases, 13 persons had arrived from abroad and six came back from other states. One person got infected through local contact. With this, the total number of persons tested positive has gone up to 498 in the district. So far 292 persons have been discharged from Covid hospitals.
As on Wednesday, 22,801 persons are under surveillance in the district, said DMO K Narayana Naik. Of these, 22,459 are in home quarantine while 342 persons are admitted to various hospitals. In neighbouring Malappuram, 34 people tested positive for Covid-19. Of these, 25 had returned from abroad while nine came from other states. The foreign-returned positive cases include two children, aged 6 and 11, and an eight-year-old, who had returned from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, respectively.
District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said all new patients were admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Manjeri. However, the spike in Covid cases has sparked concern. The district had recorded 32 fresh cases on Tuesday. Also on the day, 12 patients undergoing treatment at the GMCH recovered. In view of the prevailing situation here, Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel has recently announced that the service of the private hospitals in the area will be used if half of the beds in the government hospital are occupied by Covid patients.