COVID-19 situation in Kerala remains grim

Our Correspondent

COVID-19 has been confirmed for 9,016 people in Kerala on October 17, Minister for Health K.K. Shailaja said. Outbreaks were reported in Malappuram 1,519, Thrissur 1,109, Ernakulam 1,022, Kozhikode 926, Thiruvananthapuram 848, Palakkad 688, Kollam 656, Alappuzha 629, Kannur 464, Kottayam 411, Kasaragod 280, Pathanamthitta 203, Idukki 140 and Wayanad 121.

A total of 127 of those diagnosed with the disease arrived from outside the state. A total of 7,464 people were infected through contact. Contact source for 1,321 was not clear.  A total of 104 health workers were infected through contact. The test results of 7991 people who were diagnosed and treated turned negative on the day.

Twenty-six deaths have been confirmed due to COVID-19. Rajagopal (47) from Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhavani (70) from Tholikode, Dattu (42) from Edappazhanji, Ajith Kumar (59) from Karumam, Vijitha (26) from Manjammoodu, Usha (63) from Varkala, Satish Kumar (39) from Moongode. Madhusoodanan Nair (75) from Velliman, Kollam, Sreedharan Pillai (90) from Kottarakkara, Shahudeen (64) from Palathara, Thankamma Velayudhan (79) from Mannancherry, Alappuzha, Suresh (52) from Ramapuram, Paramu (84) from Ayarkunnam, Kottayam. Mathai (68) from Kanjiram, Hasan Pillai (94) from Idakkunnam, Bhavani (81) from Kadamattur, Ernakulam, Rajan (64) from Vellanikkara, Thrissur, Victory (80) from Poyya, Pareeth (103) from Alappuzha, Aboobacker (54) from Kuttiyadi, Malappuram, Syed Mohammad (74) of Perakam, Khadeeja (68) of Kodumudi, Asarumma (58) of Ponnani, Aravindakshan (61) of Manjapuram, Ahmed (68) of Nettoor, Kozhikode and Jameela (60) of Kakkad, Kannur. This brought the total death toll to 1,139. Further deaths will be confirmed after NIV testing in Alappuzha.

There were 2,76,900 people under surveillance in various districts of the State. Of these, 2,51,935 were under home / institutional quarantine and 24,965 in hospitals. A total of 2,971 people were admitted to hospital on the day.

During the last 24 hours, 52,067 samples were tested. A total of 38,80,795 samples have so far been sent for testing, including routine samples, Airport Surveillance, Pooled Sentinel, CBNAT, Trunat, CLIA and Antigen Assay.

While eight new hotspots were declared on the day, 18 areas have been excluded from the hotspot. With this, there were a total of 633 hotspots in the State.