The source of infection of 19 patients who tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday in Kerala remains unknown, according to the state’s daily COVID-19 bulletin. All 19 people belong to the security forces deployed in the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed that 11 of them belonged to the Defence Security Corps (DSC) and four to the Central Industrial Security Force or CISF in Kannur. Four others belonged to the Border Security Force (BSF) troops deployed in Thrissur. All 19 patients belong to the high exposure category as they have more social contact while on duty
A total of 240 coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala on Saturday.
Here is the district wise break up of cases:
| Malappuram | 37 |
| Kannur | 35 |
| Palakkad | 29 |
| Pathanamthitta | 22 |
| Alappuzha | 20 |
| Thrissur | 20 |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 16 |
| Kollam | 16 |
| Kasargod | 14 |
| Ernakulam | 13 |
| Kozhikode | 8 |
| Kottayam | 6 |
| Idukki | 2 |
| Wayanad | 2 |
Out of these, 152 patients are foreign returnees and 52 had arrived from other states.
Here is the break-up:
| Saudi Arabia | 52 |
| UAE | 42 |
| Kuwait | 32 |
| Oman | 11 |
| Qatar | 10 |
| Mozambique | 1 |
| Moldova | 1 |
| Nigeria | 1 |
| South Africa | 1 |
| Ivory Coast | 1 |
Patients who had travelled from other states:
| Karnataka | 20 |
| Tamil Nadu | 12 |
| Maharashtra | 7 |
| Delhi | 6 |
| Telangana | 5 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 1 |
The state also reported 17 cases of infection spread through contact. Five of them were reported in Ernakulam, four in Thiruvananthapuram, three in Thrissur, two each in Alappuzha and Kollam and one in Malappuram.
The state also reported 209 recoveries of patients on Saturday. These included 44 patients from Palakkad, 38 from Kollam, 36 from Alappuzha, 20 from Pathanamthitta, 16 from Kannur (one from Malappuram and one from Kozhikode), 15 from Thiruvananthapuram (three from Kollam, one from Palakkad and one from Malappuram), 10 from Thrissur, nine from Kottayam, seven from Ernakulam, six each from Malappuram (one Kottayam patient) and Kasaragod, two from Idukki.
With this, the state has 2,129 patients under treatment for COVID-19 currently. A total of 3,048 cases of coronavirus have been reported so far.
1,77,759 persons are under observation in the state from various districts. Of these 1, 74,844 persons are under observation in their houses or in institutional quarantine. The remaining 2,915 people are admitted to hospitals in the state. On Saturday, 367 persons were admitted to the state’s hospitals.
In the last 24 hours, 7,219 samples have been sent for testing in the state. Around 2,60,011 samples have been sent for testing through routine sampling, augments samples, sentinel sample, pooled sentinel, CB-NAAT and TrueNat tests. Out of these, results of 5,092 tests are yet to come.
Further, 56,226 samples of high exposure groups such as migrant labourers, health workers and others have been tested. Out of these, results of 53,692 samples tested negative.
13 new hotspots have been added to the state’s list on Saturday. This includes Thillankeri (containment zone ward 10), Chokli, Ezhome, Taliparamba municipality and Mayyil in Kannur district, Nagaroor, Ottasekharamangalam and Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram district, Chellanam, Piravom and Paingotoor in Ernakulam, Arattupuzha in Alappuzha and Thachanattukara in Palakkad.
Seven places have also been removed from the list of hotspots in the state.