A heightened state of alert has been declared in Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram and the commercial hub Ernakulam as cases of Covid-19 infections from unidentified sources has spiked. On Saturday, 214 new coronavirus cases were registered across the State.

A food delivery executive, a medical representative and a police officer in Thiruvananthapuram are in the list of infections with no identified source, prompting a clampdown in a commercial area in the heart of the city on Saturday. Ernakulam too reported similar cases from within the Kochi Corporation area limits.

The number of infections being reported in the State has risen exponentially with the arrival of citizens from outside and from abroad from early May. But a matching number of recoveries even in the face of the breach of the 200-figure mark in new cases during last two days offers the government some relief.

Vigil in capital city

The State Health Department said a 37-year-old food delivery executive, who hails from the city outskirts, has been living in a lodge near the main market in the capital city. He went in to self-isolation after he developed symptoms. He was declared a positive case on Saturday.

A 27-year-old medical representative, from within the City Corporation limits, tested positive on Saturday. He had visited a few hospitals in suburban Kazhakoottam, and another near the city region.

The police officer had got infected while being posted on duty in front of the Government Secretariat.

Alarmed at the growing incidence of positive cases with no known source, the Kerala Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded that the State government increase testing numbers. The rise in recoveries as against the number of active cases offers only so much relief, IMA sources said.

Testing numbers

Total number of samples sent for testing till Saturday was at 2,600,11. Samples sent on Saturday counted in at 7,000 but was behind the 7,447 of July 1. As much as 88.11 per cent of all infections are imported with only the rest attributed to contact, according to official statistics.

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 26 on Sunday, with an 82-year-old returnee from abroad and identified with comorbidity, succumbing. The mortality rate is contained at 0.50 per cent, recovery rate at 58.56 per cent, and average growth rate in cases at three percent. Tests per million as on Saturday are 7,402.

These figures continue to lag those of the neighbouring states. The number of overall tests is over 13 lakh in Tamil Nadu and tests per million at 17,265. The respective figures for Karnataka are 6,89,526 and 10,479. But Kerala trumps them most when it comes to mortality rate, active cases and recoveries.

(E.o.m.)

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