1,417 Covid cases in Kerala; 36 health workers also infected

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala continued to witness a spike in COVID-19 infections reporting 1,417 cases on Tuesday, including 36 health workers, as the death toll climbed to 120 with five more fatalities.

As many as 1,426 people recovered from the infection today, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here.

At least 1,242 had been infected through contact and the infection source of 105 people was not known, he said.

Three deaths were from Thiruvananthapuram district and one each fromKannur and Ernakulam.

Of the positive cases, 62 had come from abroad and 72 from other states, the Chief Minister said.

In the last 24 hours, 31,625 tests were conducted.

Two districts --Thiruvananthapuram and Malappuram -- accounted for 297 and 242 cases respectively, while Kozhikode (158), Kasaragod (147), Alappuzha (146), Palakkad (141) and Ernakulam (133) reported over 100 cases.

Meanwhile, with positive cases rising in Malappuram, District Collector K Gopalakrishnan decided to impose a complete lockdown on Sundays in the district.

Weddings, funerals, medical emergencies and petrol pumps have been exempted from the lockdown, a district administration press release said.

It said that volunteerswho had helped in evacuation of the injured after the Air India Express crash at the Karipur airport on Friday will undergo COVID-19 tests.

After a deceased passenger tested positive for the virus, the government had asked all these volunteers to go on quarantine.

(PTI)