A day after recording the highest number of cases on a single day, the number of fresh COVID-19 cases in Kottayam came down sharply on Monday with 40 persons testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.
At the same time, local transmission remained high with 31 persons contracting the virus through contact. In view of the alarming rise in cases from Athirampuzha, which was a part of Ettumanoor COVID cluster, authorities declared the panchayat as a separate COVID cluster and strengthened pandemic prevention activities there.
Virus infection that broke out from Ettumanoor vegetable market kept spreading to more areas including the adjacent panchayats like Kaduthuruthi and Manjoor.
As per official statistics, seven natives of KS Puram in Kaduthuruthi panchayat, including a two-year-old baby, tested positive. Situation also worsened in Kottayam municipality with four more persons from Thazhathangadi testing positive.
Meanwhile, more local bodies in Kottayam taluk were turning vulnerable to the virus spread with fresh cases emerging from Pampady, Meenadom, Vijayapuram, Ayarkkunnam, Akalakkunnam and Kooroppada. The flood came as a double whammy to the Vaikom region where COVID positive cases continued to rise in Udayanapuram, Vechoor and Kudavechoor panchayats.
Apart from local transmission cases, a nine-year-old girl, who returned from Muscat, and eight persons, who came back from others States, too tested positive. With 53 more persons recovering and leaving from the hospital, the number of active cases stood at 476 on the day.
