Anxiety levels over COVID-19 went down a notch in the State on Wednesday as no new positive cases were reported.
The condition of all 14 COVID-19 cases remained stable, even though doctors were quite concerned about the condition of the two elderly patients who are in intensive care units (ICU) at Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital.
Health Minister K.K. Shylaja, briefing media, said the Pathanamthitta district health administration had received about 70 phone calls after the spatiotemporal maps of the movement of the family from Italy had been published, which resulted in gaining more information on the possible contacts with the family.
The Minister said a contact list of 969 persons had been drawn up and that 129 persons, categorised as high risk, were being observed closely. About 13% of the high risk contacts were above 60 years of age, which called for greater caution when putting them under surveillance.
In Kottayam, 60 persons had come in the contact list, including 24 primary and 36 secondary contacts. In Ernakulam, a list of 131 persons had been drawn up as the possible contacts of the couple with the three-year-old child who had landed in Kochi from Italy. Among them, 33 persons, who could have had direct contact with the family, had been classified as high risk.
As on Wednesday, 3,313 persons are under surveillance in the State, of whom, 293 persons are in isolation in hospitals, while the rest are on monitored self-quarantine in homes.
Ms. Shylaja said the arrival of persons from COVID-19-affected nations had suddenly gone up in Kerala and that airport-based screening and surveillance by the health desk had been strengthened. All were being put on strict 28-day quarantine.
A good number of the travellers were voluntarily reporting at the health desk and announcements were being made over the public system at airports, railway and bus stations about the need for travellers to report to the authorities.
Grassroots-level surveillance of arrivals from foreign countries in each ward have also been initiated with the help of local bodies. Ms. Shylaja said the health system had managed well so far even as those being put under isolation in hospitals were going up steadily. But the department does have a Plan B in place to meet any exigencies which may arise due to the increased need for isolation facilities and external facilities are being arranged.
