Laboratory test results of 10 throat swab and blood samples of persons in isolation at government hospitals in the district tested negative for COVID-19 on Friday.
District Collector P.B.Noohu said four of the 10 samples belonged to high-risk contacts of the coronavirus-infected Italian residents from Aythala in Ranni.
Mr. Noohu said five more persons, all contacts of the affected persons under isolation, were admitted to the isolation wards in hospitals in the district on Friday. A total of 14 persons in isolation in the district had been discharged so far.
He said 29 persons, all primary and secondary contacts of the infected people, were in the isolation wards at the General Hospital in Pathanamthitta, District Hospital at Kozhencherry, General Hospital at Adoor, and at Pushpagiri Medical College Hospital as on Friday evening.
Mr. Noohu said 1,239 people had been quarantined at their homes.
He said so far 80 throat swab and blood samples had been sent for clinical examination, of which nine were positive and 26 negative. A total of 35 persons informed the control rooms of their arrival in the district from various foreign countries as on Friday.
Those under home quarantine in the district were being monitored on a daily basis from the call centre set up at the collectorate.
Appeal to pilgrims
The Collector also appealed to Sabarimala pilgrims to postpone their pilgrimage to the next monthly puja period in April in view of the risk of infection in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.
He said the Health Department had started measuring body temperature of the Sannidhanam-bound pilgrims using infrared thermometers at Pampa.
The department would isolate and provide proper treatment to those found sick, he said.
