THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The third wave is making life harder for the capital with a major uptick in the number of daily cases and institutional clusters. As on Thursday, the district Covid surveillance team confirmed the presence of 18 active clusters in Thiruvananthapuram. The clusters were centred on colleges, hostels and private as well as government hospitals and district medical authorities remained tight-lipped about the spread.
District medical officer Dr Jose G D’cruz reportedly directed the surveillance team not to divulge information on Covid clusters in a vain attempt to put up a different picture. “I have to check. I am busy,” he said in response to TOI’s request for comment. It is learnt that the surveillance team has been monitoring the clusters for the past few days. A PRD release was also silent on the 18 active clusters in city.
College of Engineering, Trivandrum recorded more than 100 active cases among its students. A special college council meeting was held following which it was decided that all classes would be conducted online starting from Thursday. Besides, all series tests were postponed. A mass Covid test is scheduled at CET on Friday. All students, except final year B-Tech students and students from other states, were directed to vacate the college hostel by Saturday.
More than 15 active cases were confirmed at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, forcing authorities to reschedule medical procedures. Also, 35 students of a private engineering college tested positive after returning from trips at Kullu/Manali and Vagamon.
Of the 18 clusters, 16 are within corporation limits and two clusters were detected at Nedumangad municipality and Karavaram panchayat. Cluster of cases has also been confirmed at the military station in Pangode; two delta positives were identified here.
Nursing staff and doctors in hospitals are reporting reinfections now. RCC is also dealing with positive cases among its staff. “We do have positive cases among our staff probably because the vaccine effect has waned. They are the ones who got it first almost a year ago. So booster dose for staff has started on a war footing. We are facing a bit of staff shortage, but somehow we are managing extra duties and shift adjustments. Long-term follow up cases have been asked to put off their reviews at RCC. Patients on active treatment can’t be deferred though. Bystander restriction has also been tightened,” said RCC authorities.
The capital recorded 3,404 positive cases with a TPR of 32.2% on Thursday.
