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Seven new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Kerala on Monday, the second day on a trot to report as many, proving true fears of the State government that arrivals of non-residents by aircraft (Vande Bharat Mission) and by sea (Samudra Setu) since last Thursday would lead to a spike in coronavirus cases.
On Monday, four persons from Kasaragod district and one each from Palakkad, Malappuram and Wayanad districts tested positive. These apart, four persons with a history of travel within to Maharashtra, Chennai and Kuwait too are among the infected list, while one person got the infection through local contact, Health and Social Justice Minister KK Shailaja said in Thiruvananthapuram.
Vande Bharat Mission
The Vande Bharat Mission started off from last Thursday, and the first two Covid-19 positive results came in on Saturday. This was followed by three on Tuesday; one on Friday; two on Saturday; and seven each on Monday and Sunday. The fact that none from those under treatment for the virus tested negative on Monday only added to the overall sense of disappointment.
Currently, 27 patients are under treatment in different hospitals in the State.
As on date (Monday), 1,307 persons have come back from abroad. Out of these, 650 have been quarantined at their homes, 641 at various Covid Care Centres and 16 in hospitals. There are 229 pregnant women on this list.
The number of persons under surveillance is 27,986 persons, of which 27,545 are quarantined at their homes and 441 are isolated at hospitals.
Monday saw 157 persons being admitted into hospitals with Covid-19 symptoms.
Testing gathers pace
So far, 37,858 samples have been sent for testing and 37,098 samples have confirmed with no infection.
As part of sentinel surveillance, 3,842 samples were collected from people in the high-risk group that includes healthcare workers, migrant labourers and those with higher public contacts, and tested.
Out of these, 3,791 samples have tested negative. One place in Wayanad district was declared as a hotspot, adding to the already declared 33 hotspots in the State.
The State government is of the view that it had resorted to mass testing when it was needed most, i.e., at the start and during the initial stages of the first two waves of infection. Successful contract tracing and isolation protocol had helped it flatten the curve subsequently. With the third wave at hand (non-resident arrivals and Keralites from other states within India), testings are being taken up yet again, as also contract tracing and isolation.
Best recovery rate
After Kerala confirmed the first Covid-19 case on January 30 (also the country’s first), the total number of infections reported through the first two waves stand at 519.
On May 11, 27 patients were being treated in various hospitals, after accounting for spike in cases so far in the third wave. Overall, only three deaths have been reported till Monday, while 489 have recovered so far (94.22 per cent), among the best performance in the country as a whole.
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