Twelve fresh cases of coronavirus were reported in Kerala on Friday, including five Britishers, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 37.
Totally, 44,390 people are under observation, of which 44,165 are in home quarantine and 225 in isolation wards in various hospitals in Kerala. A total of 3,456 blood samples were sent for testing, of which 2,393 returned negative.
One of the affected persons in Kasaragod district had moved around “disregarding” the health department’s directions and had met scores of people at public events, weddings and a football match.
“Those in home quarantine must strictly follow the orders of the health department. Many tend to listen, but there are some people who defy such directions,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
All government offices in Kasaragod district would be closed for a week from tomorrow, while all places of worship and clubs will be shut. Shops would remain open only from 11 am to 5 pm.
Two MLAs – Kasaragod and Manjeswaram MLAs – are under observation as they had come in contact with the 47-year-old person from Kasaragod who tested positive on Thursday. They have quarantined themselves at home.
The patient, on his return from Dubai, had attended a marriage function and a football match. The MLAs are suspected to have come in contact with the affected patient during the marriage.
“We need to impose such restrictions in Kasaragod. We have issued an order,” he added.
The COVID-19-affected person who came from Dubai on March 11 in an Air India flight landed at Karipur airport and, after staying for a day there, boarded the Thiruvananthapuram-Mangaluru Maveli Express in the S9 coach. After reaching Kasaragod he went home by car.
He showed up with symptoms at the Kasaragod Government Hospital on March 17, following which he was kept in an isolation ward and the samples were collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology in Alappuzha. The health department is preparing a route map to identify the possible primary and secondary contacts of the infected person.
