Kollam Collector B Abdul Nasar has gone into self quarantine after a primary contact of a COVID-19 patient visited his office. The senior official in the Kerala government made the announcement on his Facebook page that he is in self quarantine at his home.
However, following concerned messages, the Collector put out a comment assuring people that he has not tested positive for the coronavirus, but is only a secondary contact of a COVID-19 patient.
"Keeping self under protocol quarantine. Be cool," wrote Collector Abdul Nasar.
There have also been reports of a doctor in a private hospital in Kollam testing positive for the virus following which six people who came in contact with him have gone into quarantine.
Meanwhile in Thiruvananthapuram, all the policemen working at the Kilimanoor Police Station, including the Circle Inspector and the Sub Inspector, have gone into quarantine. The measure was taken after three police personnel at the station contracted the disease after an accused in a chain-snatching incident turned positive.
On July 30, 22 people in Kollam were reported to be positive for the coronavirus. Among them, eight people have come to the state from other countries or states while 11 others got it through contact transmission. There are also three cases for which the source has not been traced.
Among those who contracted the disease through contact transmission are a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) conductor and a health worker. There have also been 83 recoveries reported on Thursday in the district.
As of Thursday evening, there are 746 active cases of COVID-19 in Kollam. There have been four COVID-19 deaths in the district so far, which has 53 hotspots.
The number of active cases in the state crossed 10,000 on Thursday. There are 10,064 active cases while 12,163 people have recovered. Kerala has also reported 71 deaths of COVID-19 patients so far.