Ten more people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Alappuzha on Sunday. Among the patients, seven came from abroad, two from Delhi, and one person contracted the disease through contact.
One of the patients, a young man hailing from Punnapra, came from the UAE on June 10. Two persons, a 61-year-old man native of Chunakkara and a young man from Muthukulam, reached the district from Saudi Arabia on June 20. A 47-year-old man from Cheruthana came from Kuwait on June 15. The fifth patient, a young man hailing from Muthukulam, reached the district from Oman on June 24. A 49-year-old man, native of Cheppad, came from Kuwait on June 13. The seventh patient, a young man from Cheriyanad, came from Oman on June 21.
A 10-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl hailing from Chengannur came by a plane from Delhi on June 13. A 55-year-old woman from Chengannur contracted the disease through contact. Her husband, a Gulf returnee, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on June 23.
Of the patients, nine have been admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Alappuzha. The Chunakkara native was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, after he showed symptoms of the disease on arrival.
Containment zones
The government has declared ward no. 14 in Chennithala and ward no. 1 in Aroor grama panchayats as containment zones.
Meanwhile, five people who were undergoing treatment for COVID-19 have been tested negative for the disease. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the district stands at 169.
Following a spike in COVID-19 cases in the district in recent days, authorities have decided to initiate measures to tackle the spread of the disease. Officials said that the number of COVID-19 tests would be increased to 400 per day from the present 200. More mobile labs will be set up in two days.
District Collector A. Alexander said that two private medical facilities — Elemecs Hospital, Kayamkulam, and Century Hospital, Chengannur, had been taken over for setting up COVID-19 first-line treatment centres.
