Four more persons from the district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday raising the number of active cases to 29.
The first patient is a 45-year-old Kottiyam resident who travelled on a chartered bus with 22 others from Mumbai. He reached Kollam on May 19 and was transported to an expatriate welfare centre for institutional quarantine the same day. His sample was collected when one of his co-passengers tested positive on May 23.
Another patient, a 37-year-old from Punalur, contracted the infection from his wife who travelled on a Riyadh-Kozhikode flight on May 19. He was in home quarantine after his wife tested positive. He was taken to Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Parippally, following symptoms.
The third person, a 44-year-old from Thazhava, was identified in the sentinel surveillance conducted by the Health Department. He had travelled on the IX-538 Abu Dhabi-Thiruvananthapuram flight on May 16 and was in institutional quarantine at Kottarakara.
Sample collected
Since a number of people who travelled on the same flight tested positive, his sample was collected on May 21 at Kottarakara Taluk Hospital. But his reports were not issued and he was later taken to the MCH for collecting samples on May 25. The fourth patient had reached Kerala on a Kuwait-Thiruvananthapuram flight on May 28. The 49-year-old was taken to Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, the same day following health issues.
As more expatriates are returning, the administration has stepped up surveillance and home quarantine monitoring. A total of 1,084 squads including 2,577 persons were involved in the activities connected to COVID-19 containment on Saturday. Over 10,000 houses were visited and guidelines for bed-ridden patients and those in home quarantine were given. Ninety rapid response teams were deployed.
