In a spike, twelve more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19 in Kerala on Friday, taking the state’s total number of positive cases to 40. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday confirmed that 5 new cases- all UK nationals- have been reported from Ernakulam, 6 from Kasaragod and 1 more from Palakkad. The total count of 40 includes the 3 students from China who have since recovered from the disease.
Out of the fresh cases of the virus reported in the state, 5 of them are UK nationals who had fled from their resort in Munnar to fly back to their home country from the Cochin airport, despite being quarantined. The oldest patient from this cluster is 85 and a sixth person from this group had tested positive on March 15 itself.
In Kasaragod, six people have now tested positive. Two of them have come to the state from Dubai, two others are their relatives. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the details of the other two people will be out soon.
In Palakkad, the patient who tested positive had flown in from the United Kingdom. While only one positive case has been reported from the district so far, the government is contact tracing and quarantining all those who came in touch with the patient.
The Chief Minister said that the case that is causing great concern for the government was that of a man who was confirmed positive on March 19. The patient, who is a social and political worker based in the district was a regular visitor to Dubai. He had returned from the UAE on March 11 and had even attended a wedding held on March 14. Two Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLAs have now gone into self quarantine after they came in contact with the person at a public event.
“After flying in from Dubai, the patient had landed at the Karipur airport and stayed at a hotel for the night. The following day he went to Kozhikode and the day after to Kasaragod. He even took part in many programmes, including football matches and club events. He visited other houses and came in touch with a lot of people,” CM Pinarayi added in his press meet held on Friday.
With 6 cases reported in the district, Kasaragod will enter shutdown mode with all orphanages, clubs and offices closed for two weeks. Shops will also remain open only between 11 am and 5 pm. An order has been issued to enforce all of these measures in the district, the Chief Minister added.
With the number of cases rising, 44390 people have been placed under observation in the state. While 44165 of these suspected cases have been placed under home quarantine, the remaining 225 have been shifted to various hospitals in the state.On Friday, the total number of persons moved to hospital isolation wards is 56. While 3436 samples were sent for testing, 2393 of them have returned negative for COVID-19.