Kerala Covid-19 Tracker: 272 new cases & 111 recoveries today, total 2,411 patients under treatment

18 new hotspots, total 169

Thiruvananthapuram, July 07: Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today informed that 272 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Kerala today, the highest single-day count so far in the S. At the same time, 111 patients under treatment for the disease tested negative. Of the new cases diagnosed today, 157 are returnees from abroad, 38 have arrived from other states and 68 are cases of infection through contact.

Interacting with the media through video conferencing, the Chief Minister said, “The number of cases through contact is very high today and there are 15 cases where the source of infection is also not known. This means we are moving to an unprecedented situation and we need to take it very seriously. We can face this challenge only by strengthening our Covid preventive measures including break the chain campaign and reverse quarantine. Social distancing should be followed strictly especially when dealing with patients. The relaxation in restrictions has also resulted in the number of cases going up in certain places and that forced us to implement stricter rules like triple lockdown. Everyone should be more careful and follow all the safety norms firmly.”

The new active cases were detected in 63 persons from Malappuram district, 54 in Thiruvananthapuram district, 29 from Palakkad district, 21 in Ernakulam district, 19 from Kannur district, 18 in Alappuzha district, 15 from Kozhikode district, 13 in Kasargod district, 12 from Pathanamthitta district, 11 in Kollam district, 10 from Thrissur district, three each in Kottayam and Wayanad district and one from Idukki district.

The country-wise details of the 157 are Saudi Arabia 76, UAE 26, Qatar 21, Kuwait 13, Oman 13, Bahrain 5, Kyrgyzstan 1, Nigeria 1 and South Africa 1. The state-wise details of the 38 are Karnataka 13, Tamil Nadu 7, Maharashtra 4, Delhi 4, Telangana 4, Uttar Pradesh 2, West Bengal 1, Chhattisgarh 1, Andhra Pradesh 1 and Punjab 1.

Of the 68 cases of local transmission, 42 are in Thiruvananthapuram district, 11 each are from Ernakulam and Malappuram districts, three are in Alappuzha district and one is from Palakkad district. Seven health workers were also infected - five in Thiruvananthapuram district and one each in Malappuram and Pathanamthitta districts. In addition, a CISF personnel and a Defence Service Canteen worker in Kannur district were infected.

23 patients from Palakkad district, 20 in Ernakulam district, 19 from Pathanamthitta district, 10 in Malappuram district, nine from Kannur district, six each in Kollam, Thrissur and Kozhikode districts, four from Alappuzha district, three each in Thiruvananthapuram and Wayanad districts, and one each from Kottayam and Idukki districts are those who recovered from Coronavirus today. At present, 2,411 patients are undergoing treatment for the infection in the State.

There are a total of 1,86,576 persons under quarantine across the state, 1,83,542 are in home or institutional quarantine and 3,034 are in isolation at hospitals. 378 people were hospitalised today.

In the last 24 hours, 7,516 samples were examined. A total of 2,85,968 samples have been sent for testing and the results of 5,456 samples are awaited. As part of Sentinel Surveillance, 62,367 samples were collected from priority groups, such as health workers, guest workers and those with high social contacts and 60,165 samples were negative.

Today there are 18 new hotspots while six places have been excluded from the list. There are 169 hotspots now in Kerala.

2,384 persons who arrived in Kerala from outside tests positive for Covid: CM

Thiruvananthapuram, July 07: Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan has said that till yesterday, 2,384 persons who returned to Kerala from outside have tested positive for Covid-19. Of these, 1,489 were those who came back from abroad and 895 were from other states. (It may be noted that the total number of confirmed cases yesterday was 5,624.) 

Giving details, the Chief Minister said, “Malappuram district accounted for the maximum number of 289 such positive cases in the State followed by 285 in Palakkad district and 261 in Kannur district. Wayanad and Idukki districts have the least number of 49 cases each. Covid was found in 2.84% of domestic arrivals (per 1,000 people) while it was 8.02% for international arrivals. The most number of 407positive cases came from Maharashtra, followed by 181 from Tamil Nadu and 136 from Delhi.”

Since lockdown, 4,99,529 people have come from outside Kerala to the State. Of these, 3,14,094 were from other states and 1,85,435 from overseas - 62.88% domestic arrivals and 37.12% international arrivals. Three were 3,40,996 men (68.26%) and 1,58,417 women (31.71%).

64.35% of domestic passengers came from Red Zone districts. Most of these came by road, 65.25%, 19.11% by flights, 14.8% by trains and the rest by ship. Malappuram district has the highest number of arrivals with 51,707 persons (16.46%) followed by 49,653 people in Kannur (15.8%) and 47,990 in Ernakulam (15.27%). Wayanad had the least with 12,652 people (4.02%).

More people came to Kerala from the neighbouring States, 97,570 persons from Tamil Nadu (31.06%) and 88,031 from Karnataka (28.02%) while 47,970 came from Maharashtra (15.27%). 74.35% came from these three states only.

Among international arrivals, the maximum number of 89,749 people came from the UAE (48.39%) followed by 25,132 from Saudi Arabia (13.55%) and 20,285 from Qatar (10.93%). 2,553 persons (0.51%) who came back from outside Kerala have been admitted to hospitals.

Preventive measures and restrictions to be strengthened in cities

Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the Covid preventive measure and restrictions will be strengthened in cities across Kerala. “So far we have been able to contain the spread of the outbreak but we should remember that any carelessness will increase the spread and in cities, the chances of an outbreak are more. That’s why we were forced to implement triple lockdown and maximum restrictions in some cities. If left unchecked, it may cause super spread leading to community spread. The situation in Thiruvananthapuram should not repeat in Kochi and Kozhikode.

The test positivity rate is high in Kochi and it is a matter of concern.”

People who have recovered from Covid should stay at home for seven days. Migrant workers returning to Kerala must undergo the mandatory 14 days quarantine.