On Sunday, a health worker in Kollam district of Kerala was reported to be COVID-19 positive, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a statement. The 42-year-old health worker from Kalluvathukkal in Kollam, was tested positive while her sample was tested as part of the sentinel surveillance sample collection, random sampling done to check the pandemic transmission in frontline workers.
From community kitchens, visiting palliative patients to even banks, the route map of the patient designated as P22, released by the Kollam district administration, shows that she had come in contact with many during the past few days.
From May 1 to 7, the health worker visited the Primary Health Centre in the region, went to field work at Nevanakkonam and had been to the community kitchen in Kalluvathukkal.
The next two days - May 8 and 9, she visited about 100 houses in Kadaikonnam as part of source reduction activities. From May 8 to 10, she also came in contact with 25 non-communicable disease patients, visited people under palliative care and also distributed essentials to people during her field visit in Nevanakkonam area.
On May 11, she again undertook field level estimate work with an overseer. On the same day, she came in contact with a driver from Kalluvathukkal block panchayat. On May 13, the patient attended a meeting with Kalluvathukkal block panchayat president and other representatives of the local body.
The next day, on May 14, her samples were collected as part of sentinel surveillance sample collection from the Primary Health Centre in the area. Following this, on the same day, she attended a volunteers meeting along with Junior Public Health Nurse, Junior Health Inspector and four others.
From May 15 to 16, she had visited the Elamkulam Service Cooperative and Regional Cooperative banks, and came into contact with family members and neighbours. On Saturday, she was shifted to Kollam Medical College after testing positive for the coronavirus.
The woman is the 13th frontline health worker in the state to be tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. While 10 health workers have been discharged, three including the 42-year-old Kollam woman, are now under treatment. The other two are a nurse and an X-ray technician in Kasaragod district.
In addition to the Kollam health worker, 13 others were also found to be COVID-19 positive in Kerala on Sunday. All 13 persons had returned from other states or foreign countries. While seven of these people came from Tamil Nadu, three came from Maharashtra, and three are returnees from Kuwait, UAE and Maldives.
A total of 101 people are presently under treatment for COVID-19 in Kerala.