A total of 1,494 persons returned to the district from abroad have been quarantined at their homes so far, according to the medical bulletin released by the District Medical Office here on Tuesday evening.
A total of 744 persons who came from various foreign countries were identified on Tuesday alone and seven of them were found to have shown fever symptoms. The district health administration has decided to send the throat swabs and blood samples of all those who have returned from abroad with symptoms of fever for clinical examination. A government doctor and three having symptoms akin to virus infection were admitted to the isolation wards at various hospitals in the district on Tuesday.
Collector P.B. Noohu clarified that the doctor who had been admitted to the isolation ward did not have any contact with any of the infected persons in the district. The throat swab and blood samples of all the four newly isolated people had been sent to the Virology Laboratory in Alappuzha, he said.
Digital screening
A total of 11 persons who were subjected to screening for fever at the Thiruvalla railway station and bus stations in different parts of the district were placed under home quarantine on Tuesday. The bulletin said a total of 5,293 persons were screened for fever, using digital infrared thermometers, at the Thiruvalla railway station and various bus stations in the district on Tuesday.
Students
Seven nursing students came from Telengana and three paramedical students from Kalaburagi were sent to safe quarantine at their homes on Tuesday. So far, 36 persons have been discharged from isolation wards at various hospitals in the district.
Presently, 22 persons, including the five infected persons from Aythala in Ranni, have been placed under isolation at various hospitals. Of them, 12 persons are at the Pathanamthitta General Hospital, nine at the District Hospital in Kozhencherry, and one at Pushpagiri Medical College in Thiruvalla.
Religious leaders’ meet
The Collector has urged leaders of different religious faiths not to include more than 10 persons in religious functions as part of the ongoing anti-COVID-19 drive. He was addressing an emergency meeting of religious leaders convened at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadom, near here, on Tuesday.
The religious leaders should also explore the possibility of conducting prayer sessions online, he said. District Medical Officer A.L. Sheeja said cleanliness and improved sanitation was of prime importance to keep the virus at bay.
The health team deployed at Pampa has screened 2,375 pilgrims bound for Sannidhanam for fever before they entered the trekking path on Tuesday. A total of 8,425 persons bound for the Sabarimala were screened by the health team at Pampa during the past four days.
