The number of COVID-19 patients in Kozhikode district has suddenly shot up by five, with four persons who attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month and another person who returned from Dubai testing positive for the virus on Sunday.
Meanwhile, one more infected person who was undergoing treatment was discharged.
All the four who attended the Tablighi conference had no COVID-19 symptoms. However, they were under observation after their return from the national capital.
District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao told the media that their primary contacts had been traced and put under observation. He said three of them had travelled together by Navyug Express to reach Kozhikode on March 22. They were in S4 compartment. Before reaching home, they had spent some time at a local mosque.
The fourth person had returned by the Nizamuddin-Thiruvananthapuram Express on March 15. He was in S3 compartment. He was picked up from the railway station by his son, and he travelled home by car. All the four were admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital on April 3.
They are a 28-year-old from Panniyankara, 20-year-old from Perambra, 53-year-old from Kuttiyadi, and a 63-year-old from Kolathara. Thirteen persons from Kozhikode who attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet were under observation. The nine others have tested negative for the virus.
The fifth person who tested positive for the virus on Sunday had reached the Cochin international airport from Dubai on March 21 and had taken a taxi to reach his home at Nadapuram. Mr. Rao said the 56-year-old had been home-quarantined since then.
On April 2, he went to a hospital at Nadapuram by an ambulance after he experienced headache and returned home by the same vehicle. He was admitted to the medical college hospital on April 4.
So far, 12 persons have been tested positive for the virus from Kozhikode, and three have recovered from the infection. Apart from this, two natives of Kasaragod and one from Kannur too were admitted to hospital here after they were diagnosed with COVID-19, of whom one has been discharged.