Seven new cases in Kerala, total cases touch 20

Seven people including three who had arrived from Abu Dhabi on May 7 in the repatriation flight from the gulf sector, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the total number of people under treatment for the virus in Kerala to 20.

With this, five foreign returnees who reached the state from the gulf as part of the centre's 'Vande Matram' to bring back stranded Indians and expatriates in other countries,especially the GCC, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, has reached five.

Days after the state had declared that it had flattened the curve, new cases were being reported.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had on Saturday said the new cases were a "warning to those coming back from abroad and for other states to beon the alert."

Ofthe seven fresh cases, three are from Wayanad, two from Thrissur and one each from Ernakulam and Malappuram, State Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

"Two from Thrissur and one person from Malappuram reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi flight. Two persons from Wayanad contracted the disease through contact and one patient in Wayanad and one in Ernakulam had reached the state from Chennai," Shailaja said in a press release.

Four positive cases were cured on Sunday and two are from Kannur and one each from Palakkad and Kasaragod.

"With this, Kasaragod, which was once the hotspot of COVID-19 in Kerala has become free of positive cases now. Of the total 512 positive cases,489 people have been cured and discharged and currently 20 are under treatment in various districts," the minister said.

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As per the latest medical bulletin, at least 26,712 are under observation out of which 362 are in isolation wards of various hospitals across the state.

The health department also informed that the state has till now sent 37,464 samples for testing. As of now, there are 33 hotspots in the Kerala.

Presently,Wayanad has seven patients, which is the highest in the state followed by Kollam, Kannur and Ernakulam with three each cases.

Thrissur has two cases and Malappuram and Kozhikode have one case each.

Kerala was among the first states in India to report the deadly virus infection, but it has also earned global praise for having effectively tackled the crisis by being among the states with much higher recovery rates and much less spread so far.

For several days in the recent weeks, the state had reported either nil or just 1-2 fresh cases. The state has also reported three deaths so far.

Meanwhile, shops were shut in Kerala and vehicles were off the roads, as part of the Sunday lockdown imposed by the state government. Essential services were allowed to function.

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