Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, December 13, said that 36 people who came in contact with the man who tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus, have been isolated. The man, who flew in from the United Kingdom, had reached Nedumbassery airport in Kochi on December 6 and on December 8, he had tested COVID-19 positive.
On Monday, the general condition of the man was stable and he is recovering and has no other problems, according to the health authorities. "In the context of Omicron, extra caution has to be there to see if there are new clusters forming and if so, in such places, genetic sequencing has to be done," said Vijayan, while chairing a COVID-19 assessment meeting of top officials.
He said the authorities should ensure that vaccination should be speeded up as by now 97% of the eligible population in the state have taken one dose of vaccine, of which 70% have taken the second dose and it has been found out that seven million more have to be given the second dose. Authorities should ensure that this is done at the earliest, he reiterated
Meanwhile, fresh COVID-19 cases fell below 3,000 in Kerala on Monday when the state reported 2,434 new infections and 203 deaths, which took the caseload to 51.85 lakh and the toll to 43,170. Of the 203 deaths, 38 were recorded over the last few days and 165 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Union government and the directions of the Supreme Court, a state government release said.
With 4,308 more people recovering from the virus since Sunday, the total recoveries reached 51.16 lakh and the active cases dropped to 36,281, it said. Among the 14 districts, Ernakulam recorded the highest with 525 fresh cases, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (428) and Kozhikode (315). Of the new cases, 17 were health workers, 6 from outside the state and 2,266 infected through contact with the source of it not being clear in 145. There are currently 1.60 lakh people under surveillance in various districts, of whom 1.55 lakh are in home or institutional quarantine and 4,313 are in hospitals, the release said.