Community spread of COVID-19 in some places of Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that there is a community spread in some places in coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram, where a large number of coronavirus cases have been reported.

He said that a total lockdown will be implemented in the coastal areas from Saturday.

"The situation in some places in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram district is serious as COVID-19 is spreading at a very fast rate. Large number of cases in these areas are an indication of the infection spread. We can say there is a community spread in these places. The government is taking steps to coordinate all the efforts to face this serious situation," Vijayan said at a press conference.

The Chief Minister informed that community spread has occurred in two places in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram district. Poonthura, Pulluvilla and its nearby places have seen a rapid increase in the number of contact cases, he said.

"We are moving to the next stage. There will be more restrictions in the capital district, where maximum number of cases have been reported. Of the 246 positive cases in the district today, only two came from abroad. 237 cases were due to contact. Four healthcare workers were also infected and the source of three cases is unknown. This is an unusual situation," Vijayan said.

Speaking about the strategy on lockdown in coastal areas, the Chief Minister said that the coastline was divided into three zones.

"The first zone is from Anchuthengu to Perumatura. The second zone is from Perumatura to Vizhinjam and the third zone is from Vizhinjam to Urampu. A special police force has been set up to control the situation. IAS officers have been designated as Incident Commanders. The District Disaster Management Authority will announce the lockdown guidelines", he said.

He stated that 791 new coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala today and the total number of confirmed cases in the state is 11,066.

"Of the COVID-19 cases detected today, 532 were infected through contact and there are 42 cases where the source of the disease is unknown. 135 cases are returnees from overseas and 98 from other states. 15 healthcare workers, seven KSC employees and one personnel each of ITBP, BSF and Fire Force were also infected," the Chief Minister said.

Among the new cases, Thiruvananthapuram reported the highest number of cases where 246 people tested positive for coronavirus followed by 115 cases in Ernakulam, Vijayan informed.

"87 cases were reported from Pathanamthitta district, 57 from Alappuzha, 47 from Kollam, 39 from Kottayam, 32 each from Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kasaragod, 31 from Palakkad, 28 from Wayanad, 25 in Malappuram, 11 from Idukki and nine in Kannur," he said.

"240 people in Thiruvananthapuram, 84 from Ernakulam, 56 in Pathanamthitta, 46 from Alappuzha, 29 in Kollam, 23 in Kasaragod, 14 in Kozhikode, nine from Kottayam, eight each in Malappuram and Wayanad districts, seven in Thrissur, six in Idukki district and one each from Palakkad and Kannur districts are those infected through contact," Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister stated that the 15 infected health workers are infected with the virus in the state including four in Thiruvananthapuram, three each in Kottayam, Ernakulam and Malappuram districts, and one each in Pathanamthitta and Kasaragod.

He said that 6,029 patients are presently still undergoing treatment for the disease.

"There are a total of 1,78,481 people under observation in various districts of the state, 1,72,357 in-home or institutional quarantine and 6,124 in isolation at hospitals. 1,152 people were admitted to the hospital today," Vijayan said.

"In the last 24 hours, 16,642 samples were tested. A total of 4,89,395 samples have been sent for testing so far and the results of 7,610 samples are yet to come. Out of these, 88,903 samples were collected from high-risk groups as part of sentinel surveillance and 84,454 samples were negative," he said.

The Chief Minister also said that 20 new places were declared hotspots today and now there are 285 of them in the state.

"There will be only cluster-based lockdown now and we are not thinking of full lockdown. I can assure you that the situation is as expected and we are prepared to handle it. We were able to contain the spread till now," Vijayan said.

"The preventive measures will be taken jointly by the health department, police, corporation and panchayats. The services of Janamaithri police officers will also be utilised for the implementation of this system. The work of setting up the First-Line Treatment Centres is being completed expeditiously," he further said.

( With inputs from ANI )