THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state on Thursday registered its highest single-day spike in Covid cases, with the infections breaching the 4,000-mark for the first time since the pandemic outbreak. As many as 4,351 new Covid cases were reported on the day.
Terming the development as ‘worrying’, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation in Thiruvananthapuram was a concern as despite rigorous containment and mitigation measures, the infection rate was not coming down in the capital district. Also, Pathanamthitta was witnessing a spike in cases post Onam.
In the wake of the surge in cases in the state, Pinarayi said strict directives were given to the authorities concerned to carry out the Plus One admission. He said it had to be ensured that students were sticking to the time slot and only a limited number of them were entering a place at a particular time. “Cases where sources of infection are unknown are rising in Thiruvananthapuram. The district on Thursday reported 820 cases of which, 721 people were infected through local contact,” he said.
“The reports are such that there has been a rise in cases in Pathanamthitta post Onam. The possibility of the formation of market clusters cannot be ruled out. So far, cases were being reported from areas that share borders with Tamil Nadu. Now, they are being reported from hilly areas too,” he said. “In Ernakulam, infection rate due to local transmission has come down due to the effectiveness of surveillance in 42 clusters. The district is also implementing reverse quarantine in letter and spirit, as of the total infected persons, only 10 percent were aged above 60,” he said.
“There are reports that over 100 inmates of a destitute home at Vadakara had tested positive. A special medical team from the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital has been deployed for their treatment. Since it has been noted that there is a shortage of house surgeons in Wayanad, the district medical officer can use the services of half of the house surgeons of DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Meppadi,” he said.