The district recorded 15 COVID-19 positive cases through local transmission on Friday, with six headload workers at the Aluva market testing positive.
The six workers who are residents of Kadunagalloor, Karumalloor, Sreemoolanagaram, Keezhmad, Neeleswaram-Malayattoor, and Vadakkekara, were on the primary contact list of a 35-year-old headload worker from Choornikkara at the Aluva market who tested positive earlier this week.
A 52-year-old principal of a school in Aluva, who is a resident of Thripunithura, and her 25-year-old relative have tested positive. Health officials said they were still investigating the source of her infection.
Four primary contacts of the Alangad-based journalist who had tested positive earlier have also tested positive — a 54-year-old from Edathala who was working at the journalist’s establishment in Aluva, a 38-year-old from Vazhakulam, a 50-year-old from Chengamanad, and a 40-year-old from Keezhmad who ran separate business establishments in Aluva.
A 52-year-old native of Aluva working in Thrissur has also tested positive.
A 45-year-old family member of a businessman from Thrikkakara who had tested positive earlier, has tested positive.
A 26-year-old from Chellanam, who was on the primary contact list of another Chellanam resident has also tested positive.
Health officials said the Aluva market and Chellanam were active clusters where testing had been increased. The situation in the Ernakulam market area appears to have been contained with contact tracing, they said, though 15 positive cases could be linked to the area.
In areas where COVID-19 positive cases were found in clusters, testing has been intensified, District Collector S. Suhas said on Friday, while assessing the district’s situation at a State-level meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Nine persons have tested positive in Chellanam so far, and increased testing is focussed on primary contacts and symptomatic people in three wards in the area.
A total of 27 persons linked to the Aluva Market area have tested positive so far, the Collector said. The primary contact list of these people comprises 337 people. The source of infection in 14 persons in the district remains unknown.
Apart from the 15 cases of local transmission, five who tested positive had arrived from outside the State, taking the district’s tally for the day to 20. As many as 487 swabs were sent for testing on Friday, and 153 antigen tests were conducted as part of the cluster containment and sentinel surveillance testing strategies.
In private labs and private hospitals, 1,136 samples were collected. Thirteen Truenat and CB-NAAT tests were also conducted.