With 540 cases on Wednesday, Thiruvananthapuram district has reported the highest single-day spike yet in the COVID-19 caseload, even as the district administration declared ten new containment zones as part of disease prevention measures.
The overall death toll in the district has risen to 41 with two more recent deaths attributed to the disease on Wednesday. They include a 90-year-old woman from Kalady South who died on August 12 and an 86-year-old woman from Aryanad who died on August 15, authorities said.
Of the day’s caseload, transmission through contact alone accounted for 517 cases (95.7%). It also included seven health workers. As many as 4,261 people - the highest in the State - are under treatment in the district. On the bright side, 224 people tested negative for the virus on Wednesday in the district.
According to prison officials, 470 prisoners at the Central Prison, Poojappura, have been diagnosed with COVID-19 till date. The district jail has reported 40 cases in all, and the special subjail, two. So far, ten prison officers attached to the Central Prison also have tested positive.
Large number of cases continued to be reported from various parts of the district, including the coastal areas. This included Mariyanad, 20, Poovar, 19, (including 11 people who came from other States), Kochuthope, 18, and Vallakadavu, 14. Parassala reported nine cases; Mulloor, eight; Keezharoor and Balaramapuram, seven each; and Ooruttambalam and Santhipuram, six each.
District Collector Navjot Khosa issued orders on Wednesday declaring containment zones in ten wards in rural Thiruvananthapuram. This include Kaivilakom in Ottasekharamangalam panchayat; Mudisasthamcode in Karakulam panchayat; Dalawapuram in Cherunniyoor panchayat; Karoor in Pothencode panchayat; Moolaman in Vilavoorkal panchayat; Cheruveli in Anad panchayat; Nilakkamukku in Vakkom panchayat; and Thekkumbhagom, railway station, and Ootuparambu in Kadakkavoor panchayat.
The following wards are out of containment zones: eleven wards in Kallikadu panchayat; ward 12 in Chemmaruthi; bund colony in the Kunnukuzhi ward, and VKP Nagar in the Kanjirampara ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation; and five wards of Balaramapuram panchayat.
