Local transmission cases continued to rise in the district with 23 people out of 42 who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Saturday contracting the disease through contact.

The 23 include eight Pallithode natives and one person from Kuthiathode who were on the contact lists of COVID-19 patients associated with the Chellanam harbour. Another six of a family from Alappuzha municipality who tested positive were on the contact list of a COVID-19 patient from Ambalappuzha.

Two persons from Kayamkulam and one each from Kandalloor and Karthikappally, on the contact list of the vegetable vendor from Kayamkulam who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 earlier, were also diagnosed with the disease.

Two Thuravoor natives on the contact list of employees of a seafood company who tested positive earlier are also in the list of patients on Saturday.

A 38-year-old woman hailing from Venmony, who was on the contact list of a COVID-19-positive Indo-Tibtean Border Police (ITBP) officer, and a 40-year-old woman from Pulinkunnu, who was on the contact list of a COVID-19 patient from the same place, also tested positive.

Besides, a woman from Muhamma who is an employee of a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram and a 20-year-old woman from Chunakkara were diagnosed with the disease. The Chunakkara native’s source of infection is unknown. Of the rest of the cases, 11 had come from abroad and six from other States.

Meanwhile, 36 people who were undergoing treatment tested negative for the disease. The number of active cases stands at 607.

Ward 35 and 43 in Alappuzha municipality were declared as containment zones.