Caseload crosses 10k on day which saw 949 contact cases

Thiruvananthapuram: The case load in the state crossed the 10,000-mark with 1,167 more cases reported on Tuesday. A total of 949 contact cases were also recorded.
The total number of cases reported in the state touched 20,896, with active cases numbering 10,093. Total recoveries for the day stood at 679. Nearly 122 of the newly infected had travelled from abroad while 96 had come from other states. There is also no respite in the number of cases with no known source. On Tuesday, 55 such cases were reported.
Four more deaths were reported in the state: Abubaker, 72, in Ernakulam, Abdul Rahman, 70, in Kasaragod, Sainuddien, 65, in Alappuzha and Selvamani, 65, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thiruvananthapuram reported 222 new cases. It was followed by Kottayam with 118 cases; Malappuram (112); Thrissur (109); Kollam (95); Palakkad (86); Alappuzha (84); Ernakulam (70); Kozhikode (67); Pathanamthitta (63); Wayanad (53); Kannur (43); Kasaragod (38); and, Idukki (7, all contact cases).
The capital district also lead in the contact case count, with 199, while Kottayam reported 113; Malappuram (88); Kollam (77); Alappuzha (64); Ernakulam (61), Thrissur (58); Kozhikode (50); Wayanad (42); Pathanamthitta, Palakkad and Kasaragod (36 each); and, Kannur (21).
Apart from this, 11 Kerala Solvent Extractions (KSE) employees, nine KLF employees and a BSF personnel in Thrissur and seven employees of Malabar Trading Co in Wayanad were infected through contact.
As many as 1,50,716 persons are currently under surveillance in the state. Of this, 1,40,898 are in their homes or institutional quarantine centres and 9,818 are in isolation in hospitals. Nearly 1,343 persons were admitted to hospitals today.
In the last 24 hours 19,140 samples were tested. Till now, a total of 7,09,348 samples have been tested with results of 6,596 samples still awaited.
T’vpm Situation Grave
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation in the state capital is highly sensitive as more and more contact cases are being reported. “It is spreading wildly in different areas. In tests conducted at the Kinfra Park in Menmakulam, nearly 88 persons tested positive, which shows the gravity of the situation,’’ he said.
If one in every 36 persons tested are turning positive in the state, in Thiruvananthapuram the ratio is 1:18. The first cluster in the district was reported on July 5 at Poonthura. This was followed by the clusters at Beemapally and Pulluvila on July 15. Now it has been spread to the entire coastal areas and other parts in the district.
Vijayan said similar clusters have been identified at Ettumanoor in Kottayam, Pattambi in Palakkad, Kondotty in Malappuram, Thavinhal and Batheri in Wayanad and Chemmanadu in Kasaragod.
The CM said testing has increased over the past one week and a review was done on the reasons for the delay in getting results. This was attributed to the higher testing numbers, especially in clusters. Healthcare workers are working round the clock to collect samples for testing. An RT-PCR test turnaround time is currently around six hours, he said.