Even as authorities are considering a strategy shift to contain the COVID-19 spread, the number of new cases continued to rise in the district with 93 persons testing positive for SARS-Cov-2 on Tuesday.
While 86 persons contracted the virus through contact, seven, who had landed from abroad, and two from other States also tested positive. Kottayam municipality led the tally of contact cases for the third consecutive day with 10 persons testing positive on the day.
49 recoveries
The cases are also going high at Chempu and Panachikkad panchayats, which reported eight cases each while Vechoor and Kurichy reported seven cases each. Meanwhile, 49 persons were discharged from various treatment centres.
Kottayam currently has 708 active cases and 9,377 persons under surveillance. In view of the rapid surge in cases, the health authorities are now looking to initiate reverse quarantine strategy for the vulnerable sections. As part of it, the district health wing has begun antigen testing at old-age homes in the district.
As many as 1,600 aged persons are estimated to have housed in nearly 75 old-age home in the district. Though around 300 of them were subjected to antigen tests so far, no positive case has been detected so far.
A total of 551 persons tested positive for the virus in the last seven days at a test positivity rate of 4.9%.
