Kerala: Contact-tracing of Salem case begins

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district administration and health team have initiated contact tracing and isolation procedures at Kunnathukal panchayat after a 27-year-old man from Anavoor ward tested positive for Covid-19 in Salem.
This is the first time that the district has initiated such steps for a local person testing positive in Tamil Nadu. A review meeting of experts called by the chief minister on June 18 had stressed the need for contact tracing of persons from Kerala who test positive in other states.
The medical officer at Kunnathukal got in touch with Salem authorities and spoke to the man, who has been admitted to the Salem medical college hospital. According to officials, he is clinically stable and asymptomatic. So far, 10 primary contacts of the man have been identified. Swab collection of these contacts will begin on Friday at the first line treatment
centre at Karakkonam. The 27-year-old lived with his parents and brother. Steps are being initiated to identify secondary contacts.
It is learnt that the man was employed as a temporary KSEB meter reader. He had recently been recruited by Railways and had left on June 29 to report for the new job. His swab was collected at Salem on June 30 and his results came positive on July 1.
As per Tamil Nadu official data, 11 cases from Kerala tested positive on July 1 and 16 imported cases were reported at Salem. On July 2, 13 persons from Kerala reported positive in Tamil Nadu. There have been over 100 such cases between May and June. The health department in the state has not been able to identify or track any of these cases till date.
Meanwhile, the situation in Thiruvananthapuram deteriorated on Friday with 17 new cases being identified. Of these, source of infection is unknown for two and one got infected through a contact. Others have travelled from abroad and other states.
A 46-year old police officer from Chemmaruthumala in Nagaroor and a 25-year old woman from Kozhivila in Parassala are the two persons with unidentified sources of infection. A 38-year old man from Paruthikuzhy who tested positive on Friday is the nephew of the fish vendor in Poonthura who tested positive the other day.