KASARAGOD: The number of persons testing positive in Kasaragod has dipped to 28 on Monday, but officials continue to grapple with unknown sources of infection.
In a bolt from the blue, a 34-year-old man found that he was infected with the new coronavirus when he was about to return to work in the UAE.
He came to his hometown at Mulleria in Karaduka panchayat in March before the lockdown, said health inspector Krishnakumar.
As it was time to rejoin work in the UAE, he went to a private lab to get a COVID-negative certificate. "But his results turned out to be positive," said the official.
"We have no clue about his source of infection," he said. But even more worrying is his contact list.
"He has a long list of primary contacts and contacts of contacts. We cannot blame him for mingling freely in society because he did not expect the virus to be in Mulleria," said the health inspector.
On Monday, 11 of the 28 cases are through local transmissions. The sources of five of them are not known, said district medical officer Dr A V Ramdas.
Eight persons came from abroad and nine from other states.
Four came from Mangaluru, one person each from Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Hassan in Karnataka; and two persons came from Jammu and Chennai, he said.
Unknown sources
A 47-year-old man from Trikaripur tested positive for COVID on Monday. He was in Lake Shore Hospital in Kochi for 14 days for his father's surgery.
He returned on a train to Kasaragod on Saturday (July 18).
A 47-year-old owner of a shop selling sports goods in Kasaragod New Bus Stand area tested positive for COVID. His source of infection was not known. But his wife (36) has tested positive.
In Meenja and Mangalpady panchayats, two persons tested positive and their sources are not known.
In Panathady panchayat, the 56-year-old wife and 22-year-old son of a textile shop owner tested positive on Monday. He had tested positive last Thursday (July 16).
A one-year-old boy has tested positive in Mogral Puthur. Officials said the child came in contact with an infected person.
LDF leaders test negative
Twenty leaders of the Left Democratic Front in Kasaragod district have tested negative for COVID-19.
They underwent an antigen test after the JD(S) district president Dr K A Khader tested positive for COVID-19.
The LDF leaders had met for a district-level meeting on July 11.
Health officials said Dr Khader ran a clinic at Kunjathur in Manjeshwar.
One of his staffers' husband got infected and as part of contact tracing, all the staff were tested and the doctor was found to be infected.
Recovery
Eleven persons recovered from COVID-19 in the district on Monday. The district now has 408 active cases of COVID.