The COVID-19 caseload in Thiruvananthapuram district rose sharply on Wednesday with 986 more persons testing positive. The death toll, meanwhile, mounted to 218 with six more recent deaths attributed to the disease.
A vast majority of the patients — 835 in all — contracted the infection through local transmission. In 111 cases, the source of infection remained vague.
The deceased include a 68-year-old woman from Thampanoor; a 55-year-old man from Pallichal; a 91-year-old man from Sreekanteswaram; a 77-year-old man from Nedumangad; a 68-year-old man from Vallakadavu; and a 49-year-old man from Peyad.
The number of active cases in the district also crossed the 11,000-mark. As on Wednesday, 11,005 people are under treatment for COVID-19 in Thiruvananthapuram, according to official statistics.
Wednesday’s caseload included 435 women and 551 men. At the same time, there has been no let-up in the alarming rise in cases reported among the vulnerable groups, especially the children and the elderly. On Wednesday alone, 92 children aged below 15 and 144 persons aged above 60 were diagnosed with COVID-19. As many as 32 health workers also tested positive on Wednesday.
Parassala MLA C.K. Hareendran and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19. Mr. Hareendran said that he and his wife had undergone antigen tests on Wednesday. He requested persons who had come into contact with them over the past few days to self-quarantine themselves.
In all, 379 people tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday. As many as 2,714 people have been newly quarantined in the district, taking the number of people currently under surveillance to 28,588.
New containment zones
In view of the spike in cases, the district administration has declared the following places in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation limits as containment zones: Thiruvallom, Sreekariyam, Cheruvaikkal, Ulloor, Edavacode, Chellamangalam, Chempazhanthi, Powdikonam, Njandoorkonam, Mannanthala, Akkulam and Nalanchira. Puthuveetumele in Vilavoorkal grama panchayat also has been declared a containment zone.
The following places have been excluded from the list of containment zones: Ponnara in Kattakada grama panchayat, and Mudakkal and Chembur in Mudakkal grama panchayat.