Thiruvananthapuram's Poonthura sees first COVID-19 death

The coastal area in Thiruvananthapuram had been put under restrictions due to a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Thiruvananthapuram's Poonthura sees first COVID-19 death

The first COVID-19 death from Poonthura, a coastal area in Thiruvananthapuram, was reported on Friday. 

On the same day, hundreds of residents in the hamlet had protested on the streets, breaking the COVID-19 restrictions imposed after the area saw a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. 

On Friday, 67-year-old Saifudeen, a resident of Manikyavilakam near Poonthura passed away at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. 

The patient tested positive for the coronavirus and had comorbidities including renal issues and diabetes. 

“He was a bedridden person who had suffered renal failure and was also diabetic. He later tested positive for coronavirus which he seems to have contracted from his son-in-law,” Thiruvananthapuram District Medical Officer Dr P Preetha told TNM.

According to reports, the patient’s 27-year-old son-in-law is a medical representative who had been infected. Four other members of their family have now tested positive. 

With this, the total number of deaths in the state has now crossed 30. 

On Friday, several residents from Poonthura had come out on the streets, despite the area being a containment zone. Thiruvananthapuram went into triple lockdown on Monday, in order to contain the spread of the virus. The city’s coastal areas have reported an unusually high number of cases. 

Following protests, the health authorities and senior police officers of the city visited Poonthura to make peace. 

“Many of them did not understand what was happening. One of our requests to the authorities was to explain to them and convince them about the need for isolation before taking them away. To give them some time to prepare for it. Even after they were taken away, they received poor treatment at the hospitals,” claims Fr Bebinson, the parish priest of Poonthura.

State Health Minister KK Shailaja too warned that the ‘situation was grave’. 

“We had been steadily controlling the spread and keeping COVID-19 deaths to a minimum when suddenly a super spread happened in regions like Poonthura and Manacaud. From July 6 onwards, 1,192 tests were conducted in the Poonthura region, out of which 243 results were positive. We had to put strict controls in place,” she told the media in a press meet. 

Kerala reported 416 cases of coronavirus on Friday.  Of those under treatment, 112 recovered on Friday. Currently there are 3,099 active cases of COVID-19 in the state. 

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