Three persons were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Kollam on Saturday. At present, the district has 13 active COVID-19 cases.
Among the three new cases, the first person reached Kerala on May 19 on a Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram special train and he was brought to Kollam on a KSRTC bus. The 58-year-old Thrikkadavur resident was in institutional quarantine and was later shifted to the Government Medical College (MCH), Parippally. A 32-year-old pregnant woman from Punalur and a 58-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram are the other positive cases.
Two centres in the district will now have TrueNat testing facilities that deliver faster results for coronavirus screening.
Nasopharyngeal swabs would be collected for the test and the reports would be ready in an hour, said District Medical Officer Dr R. Sreelatha. At present, the facility is available at the MCH and Kollam District Hospital. The Health Department has also started the first-phase pool testing of expatriates and persons from other States in connection with COVID-19 containment. Samples of all other passengers were collected after six persons who travelled on IX-538 Abu Dhabi-Thiruvananthapuram flight on May 16 tested positive in the district.
