Kottayam, which has been witnessing a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 patients over the past one month, received a brief respite on Monday with no persons tested positive for the disease.
At the same time, eight persons who recovered from the disease were discharged from various hospitals here.
According to officials, the test results of all 325 samples received during the day were confirmed negative. Of the 216 persons from the district who have contracted the virus, as many as 173 were tested positive in the first 28 days of June.
The persons who recovered from the disease were a 59-year old Panchikkadu native who returned from Abu Dhabi, a 23-year-old Mundakkayam native who returned from Chennai, a 33-year-old TV Puram native who returned from Mumbai, a 28-year-old pregnant woman who landed from Saudi Arabia; a 55-year-old Malam native who returned from Abu Dhabi, a 61-year-old Koruthodu native who contracted the virus through local contact, a 53-year-old Chirakkadavu native who returned from Mumbai and a 33-year-old Neendoor native who landed from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, ward eight of the Pallikkathodu Panchayat in Kottayam, where a cluster of positive cases emerged last week, has been declared as a containment zone.
Tracing contacts
The health officials have embarked on a massive exercise to trace the contacts of all persons who have been tested positive, besides the source of virus infection.
The incident came to light when a 70-year-old man here was tested positive ahead of a cataract surgery at a private hospital in Thellakom. Following this, his 24-year-old daughter-in-law and four other members of the family too were tested positive.
Following this, as many as 35 staff members, including two doctors, of the hospital were directed to go in quarantine. Further, several other primary contacts of the family too were traced and put in isolation.
