The State reported 32 more confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the total number of cases reported so far in the State to 234.
Kasaragod accounted for 17 of these cases, Kannur 11 while Idukki and Wayanad reported two cases each.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that of the 32 cases, 17 persons had returned from abroad while 15 cases were that of people who had come into contact with some of the imported cases.
At present, 213 COVID-19 patients are under treatment in hospitals. Twenty persons have been discharged after treatment and one death was recorded.
A total of 1.57 lakh people have been put under surveillance in the State now, of whom, 623 are in isolation wards in hospitals.
RGCB facility
Mr. Vijayan said that the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) had the capacity to do 3,000 PCR-based diagnostic tests for COVID-19 per day and that the State would make full use of the facility
The government, he said, has ordered the Police Department to provide sufficient off-duty time for law-enforcers working under harsh heat conditions to impose the lockdown.
Mr Vijayan said given the relatively high turnout of crowds in the State on Monday, the public should expect the police to be marginally stricter on Tuesday.
He said hotels could deliver food home but could not serve it on their premises. The Excise Department was working on a proposal to restore the sale of legal alcohol. Mr. Vijayan said that shortage of ventilators and the hardships faced by patients at Kasaragod had come up in his discussions with representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The CII has offered to help with the current situation by setting up some ventilators and dialysis machines at Kasaragod, which is a very welcome step, Mr. Vijayan said.
