Kasaragod District Collector Sajith Babu on Wednesday night went into quarantine after a TV channel reporter who had come in contact with him tested positive for the coronavirus.
The results of the reporter came on Wednesday evening and soon Babu decided to go into quarantine. His throat swab sample has been sent for testing.
The District Collector had met with the broadcast reporter as part of an interview. "I had given an interview to the journalist on April 19. He has tested positive for coronavirus. Along with me, my driver and gunman have been advised to go into self-quarantine," District Collector D Sajith Babu told PTI.
A cameraman, driver and two other staff members of the media organisation have also been quarantined.
The district health authorities have asked all TV channel media professionals who might have come in contact with the reporter to go into isolation.
Kasaragod at one point of time had the maximum number of COVID-19 cases, the numbers have since come down considerably with a triple lockdown being strongly enforced in the district. Kasaragod continues to be in the red zone with 12 positive cases and 1,930 people in observation at homes and in hospitals.
Ten persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19 on Wednesday in Kerala, including three health workers from Kollam. Six of the cases were reported from Kollam while two cases each were reported from Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod.
The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his Wednesday press conference rubbished reports of community spread in the state, "From some quarters it is being reported that the state is dealing with community transmission. Such reports are baseless. The government is taking all kinds of precautions to avoid such a situation," said the Chief Minister.