THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid fears of a community spread, the Kerala capital continues to be on high alert as cases with unknown sources of infection pose a tough challenge to health workers. Four new patients in the state capital on Thursday, including a lottery seller, have no travel history and their source of infections remains unknown even as the health department’s evening bulletin called them contact spread cases.
The heavily populated Kochi Corporation is facing another challenge as two more staffers of a shop in Ernakulam market were tested positive. A massive effort to test the possible contacts of the patients started on Thursday. On Thursday, 202 persons recovered from Covid-19, the highest single-day rise so far, while the new cases stood at 160. Over 50 recoveries each were in the districts of Malappuram and Palakkad. Maximum number of recoveries was recorded in Malappuram, 57, followed by Palakkad, 53 and Kasaragod, 23. 15 persons recuperated in Thiruvananthapuram, 14 in Kannur, 13 in Idukki, 11 in Ernakulam, 8 in Thrissur, 7 in Alappuzha and one in Kottayam.
While 14 persons contracted the infection through contact spread, 106 had returned from abroad and 40 from other states. Five of the contact spread cases were in Alappuzha, four each in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam and one in Kottayam. Of the 1.78 lakh persons under surveillance, 1.75 lakh are under home or institutional quarantine. The three new hotspots are Panoor in Kannur, Kozhikode city corporation and Olavanna in Kozhikode. There are 123 hotspots at present.