As many as 13 persons, including two health-care workers, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 here on Thursday, taking the total number of active cases in the district to 184.
Seven contracted the virus through local contact while one patient who tested positive arrived from abroad. The remaining three patients returned to the district from other States.
The two health-care workers who contracted the virus through local contact were: a 31-year-old Vaikom native who works as a pharmacist at the Vaikom Taluk Hospital and a 31-year-old staff nurse of the Pambadi Taluk Hospital. While the pharmacist was in the contact list of a COVID-19 patient, the second person had collected serum samples from the public.
Local contact
The other patients who contracted the virus through local contact were: a 63-year-old Vaikom native who runs a bakery at Maravanthuruth; a 38-year-old woman from TV Puram who works at a food-processing plant in Ezhupunna, Alappuzha; a 44-year-old TV Puram native who works in the police department; a 37-year-old Udayanapuram native; a 52-year-old Thalayazham native; the 68-year-old mother-in-law of a female patient from Vechoor; and a 41-year-old Vazhappally native. The contact sources of all except the Vazhappally native have been traced. The three persons who returned from other States were identified as: a 22-year-old health worker from Madappally who arrived from Hyderabad on July 3; a 58-year-old Karukachal native who came from Mumbai on July 5; and a 34-year-old health worker from TV Puram who arrived from Haryana on July 5. Steps are on to set up 5,000 beds at the COVID First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTCs) on a war footing. As many as 2,110 beds will be set up at 13 primary care centres while efforts are also on to establish at least one CFLTC in every local body.
Five persons who recovered from the infection were discharged from various hospitals on Thursday.
