With the Health Department officials strengthening the preventive action against the spread of COVID-19 through programmes at different levels, the panic wave that has hit the region has gradually begun to recede.
Of the 87 persons who have been listed as primary contacts of the COVID-19 patients in Kottayam, 83 are yet to develop any symptoms of the disease. The samples of the remaining four persons, meanwhile, were tested negative for the virus. Despite this, these persons will be remaining in home quarantine till April 5.
On Tuesday, the authorities recommended home quarantine to 77 people, which also included one person who had come into direct contact with one of the COVID-19 person. With this, the total number of people under home quarantine in Kottayam reached 1,378.
Discharged
The authorities here on Tuesday admitted a woman from Kottayam to the isolation ward at a private hospital with suspected symptoms of the disease. At the same time, a child and a youth who had just returned from abroad were discharged from the isolation ward of the Government Medical College here and will continue in home quarantine.
The throat swabs of these two, along with three others, were tested negative on Tuesday. A special quarantine facility for foreign citizens who have been denied rooms in hotels is opened. The two French nationals and the two Spanish tourists who had reached Kottayam the previous day have been admitted to this facility.
According to District Collector P.K. Sudheer Babu, the regulation on their travel within the country will be lifted upon serving a quarantine period of 28 days. “Stern action will be initiated against those falsely terming foreign guests as virus infected and circulating fake messages against them through social media. Further, nobody should deny food, accommodation, or other services to any of the guests who have completed the quarantine period,” he said.
As many as 53 persons presented themselves for an examination based on the route map of the COVID-19 patients.
