Kerala Covid-19 Tracker: Two new cases & one recovery today, total 17 patients under treatment

 Thiruvananthapuram, May 09: Two new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Kerala today. Both are Pravasi Malayalees who came back from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Kochi and Kozhikode respectively on May 07 by the first evacuation flights to Kerala. They are natives of Malappuram district.

Meanwhile, a patient from Idukki district has recovered from Coronavirus and tested negative today. Till date, there are 505 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the State and 17 patients are undergoing treatment in different hospitals.

With the return of the expatriates, from within and outside the country, the number of people under surveillance across the State has gone up to 23,930.  Of these, 23,596 are quarantined at their homes and 334 are isolated at hospitals. 123 persons were hospitalised today.

So far, 36,648 samples have been sent for testing and 36,002 samples have been confirmed with no infection. As part of sentinel surveillance of people in the high-risk group, 3,465 samples were tested separately and 3,231 samples have tested negative. 

Briefing the media, Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “The new cases being reported is a warning to those coming back from abroad and other states to be on the alert. We need to strengthen our mitigation efforts and preventive measures.”

Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; and Chief Secretary, Shri Tom Jose IAS were also present

Covid Jagratha entry passes mandatory to enter Kerala by road: Chief Minister

Thiruvananthapuram, May 09: Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today reiterated that entry pass was mandatory to enter Kerala through the border check posts along with the neighbouring states.

“People without the passes will not be allowed to enter Kerala and they will be sent back. Those who desire to come to the State should register through the Covid Jagratha Portal and they should start their journey only after getting the pass. The pass is mandatory. Based on logistics and for crowd control, there is a limit on the number of people who can cross the border every day and passes are being issued according to that”, the Chief Minister said.

Till now, 54,262 passes have been issued and so far, 21,812 Keralites from other States have reached back the State. Those who come from other states are entering Kerala through the check posts at Inchivila in Thiruvananthapuram, Aryankavu in Kollam, Valayar in Palakkad, Mutthanga in Wayanad and Thalapady in Kasargod. More Janamaithri police have been deployed to ease congestion at check posts.

As per the recommendations of an expert committee chaired by Dr Ikbal, people coming from other states will first undergo a medical check-up and those without any symptoms will be sent home for 14 days quarantine. If there is any symptom, a PCR test will be conducted and they will be transferred to Covid hospital.

Helpdesks for Pravasi Malayalees at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai

Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced that four helpdesks will be set up across the country for the benefit of Pravasi Malayalees stranded outside Kerala. These helpdesks will be based at the Delhi Kerala House, Mumbai Kerala House, and the offices of Norka at Bangalore and Chennai. Call centres for Non-Resident Keralites will also be set up in all these four places to help the stranded Malayalees.

The CM also informed that special non-stop trains would be run from Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai to the State, to bring back the stranded Keralites. He was hopeful that the first train will be from Delhi to bring back the stranded students there. The date will be announced soon.

Status of Pravasi Malayalees returning from abroad

The Chief Minister informed that 152 expatriates from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia arrived at the Kozhikode on May 08. Apart from 142 Pravasi Malayalees, there were eight from Karnataka and two from Tamil Nadu. There were 128 adults and 24 children including 78 pregnant women. Of these, 114 were sent home and the rest were transferred to various Covid Care Centres.

Another flight from Bahrain to Kochi arrived yesterday with181 passengers. Of these, 87 were men and 94 were women. There were 25 pregnant women and 28 children under the age of 10. 15 people from Ernakulam have been placed under surveillance at the Covid Care Center.

Three flights from Muscat to Kochi, Kuwait to Kochi and Doha to Kochi are expected to arrive in Kerala tonight.