Kerala: Highest single-day spike in infections and contact cases

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the things are not going smooth in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi as there is a major threat of Covid-19 emerging from super spread to community spread. "The positivity rate of Kochi is much higher than the state capital. In Thiruvananthapuram the case load is increasing in particular regions,'' he said.
Hence it has been decided to increase the testing in Kochi.The situation has so far not gone out of control but the threat is looming large. The triple lockdown has been declared in the state capital to prevent the community spread. Similar situation is prevailing in Kochi also hence strict regulations will have to be put in place to prevent the spreading.
Highest number of contact cases were reported in the day with 77 people who are having no travel history getting infected. Among this included seven health care workers, one CISF personal and one defence service canteen employee. The health workers include two doctors; one each from Pathanamthitta and Malappuram.
The highest number of contact cases were reported in the state capital with 47 cases, Malappuram 12, Ernakulam 11, Alappuzha 3, Palakkad 1, Pathanamthitta 1 and Kannur 2. The worrying factor in the contact cases reported in the day is that in the 15 cases sources are yet to be traced,'' said the chief minister.
The state witnessed 272 positive cases, the highest reported in a day till date. Of this 157 people had come from abroad and 38 people had come from other states. Of the new cases 63 are from Malappuram, 54 from Thiruvananthapuram, 29 from Palakkad, 21 from Ernakulam, 19 from Kannur, 18 from Alappuzha, 15 from Kozhikode, 13 from Kasaragod, 12 from Pathanamthitta, 11 from Kollam, 10 from Thrissur, 3 each from Kottayam and Wayanad and one from Idukki have been declared positive.
In the last 24 hours 7516 samples were collected for testing. Till date 210583 samples (including repeat, augmented and private lab samples) have been sent for testing out of which results of 5456 are pending. Apart from above, 62367 samples were taken from priority groups like health care workers, persons with high social exposure, workers etc. as part of sentinel surveillance of which 60165 samples tested negative.
Meanwhile test results of 111 patients under treatment have been declared negative. Of which 23 are from Palakkad, 20 from Ernakulam, 19 from Pathanamthitta, 10 from Malappuram, 9 from Kannur, 6 each from Kollam Thrissur and Kozhikode (Wayanad-1), 4 from Alappuzha, 3 each from Thiruvananthapuram and Wayanad, and 1 each from Kottayam and Idukki.