The State’s daily COVID-19 caseload crossed the three-digit mark on Friday with 111 cases being reported.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued a dire warning to the people to be really aware of the situation ahead when the disease could spread rapidly in the community.
As more and more cases of local disease transmission through contacts were being reported daily, people should ask themselves if they were exercising the high level of vigil and caution that was evident in the early containment stages, he said.
Situation grave: CM
“With over-a-lakh people slated to return to the State from abroad this month, lockdown relaxations are likely to lead to a state of heightened disease transmission. It is time that our people understood the gravity of the situation ahead. This is a war against COVID-19 and unless every individual becomes a warrior himself and practises physical distancing, universal mask use and hand sanitisation religiously at public places, workplaces and inside public transport systems, the situation is poised to go out of control,” Mr. Vijayan said.
He pointed out that the case burden had been climbing exponentially. Of the 111 cases reported, 98 were imported cases of infection in people who had returned from abroad and other States.
The number of cases contracted through local transmission had also gone up to 13, including three health-care workers.
The State currently has 973 active cases. With 22 more recoveries reported on Friday, the number of those who have recovered from the disease now stands at 712. Till date, the State has chalked up 1,697 cases and 14 deaths.
The total number of people under surveillance and in quarantine is 1,77,106, of whom 1,545 are isolated in hospitals.
Mr. Vijayan said only a small proportion of those who had returned to the State after May 7 from abroad and other States had tested positive for COVID-19. Of the 1,77,033 persons who had come, just 680 had been diagnosed with the disease, with 343 having come from abroad and 337 from other States.
The total number of samples tested also crossed one lakh and now stands at 1,04,045.
Five new hotspots were declared on Friday in Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur districts, taking the total number of hotspots in the State to 128.
