Four more COVID-19 cases in Kerala;tally now 485

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 28 () Kerala Tuesday reportedfour more positive cases of COVID-19 of which three cases arefrom Kannur district and one case from Kasaragod, taking thetotal aggregate in the state to 485.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said four cases werecured in the state and currently 123 are under treatment invarious hospitals.

"Out of the four new cases, two came from abroad andtwo are contacts of infected people," Vijayan said.

Two patients each from Kannur and Kasaragod werecured.

"As of now, there are 20,773 under observation while518 are in isolation wards across the state.

A total of 23,980 samples have been sent for testingtill now," Vijayan told reporters.

He said the state had randomly collected 875 samplesfrom health workers, guest workers and people with more socialcontacts and sent for testing, out of which 801 returnednegative.

Vijayan also said that on Monday alone, the statehad collected 3,101 samples and tested in the 14 labs acrossthe state and 2,682 samples were found negative.

"Three of today's positive cases are from this setof samples...25 samples have been given for re-testing,"Vijayan said.

Meanwhile, the chief minister clarified that thethree cases, earlier reported in the day, were given forre-testing and was not included in today's positive caseslist.

Idukki collector and Power Minister M M Mani hadearlier in the day told media that there were three new casesfrom the hilly district.

The state government has declared seven morehotspots in the state taking the total number in Kerala to100.

The chief minister congratulated the staff membersof the Kasaragod General Hospital from where 89 patients werecured and discharged.

Kasaragod had 175 patients.

He also said that Kottayam and Idukki districts arethe new hotspots in the state as the numbers of patients thereare on a rise.

Both the districts were in Green Zone nearly twoweeks ago without any positive cases being reported for over aweek.

Vijayan said the lockdown protocol needs to beimplemented stringently in Kottayam and Idukki districts andsenior officials have been posted in both the districts tocoordinate the activities there.

"As of now, there are 78 picket posts in Idukki andall the byroads closed.

The district have been closed and divided into fivedivisions with DySPs in charge.

Strong action will be taken against those who violatelockdown protocol," Vijayan said.

He said at least 2.76 lakh expatriates haveregistered in the NORKA website from over 150 countries andall the four international airports in the state have beenequipped to conduct medical check and quarantine those whoreturning.

He also criticised a certain section of media whichhad yesterday reported that there was a delay in taking apositive-tested patient in Kottayam district to the hospital.

"We have a strict protocol to follow when a personis tested positive.The result was made available to theKottayam DMO in the evening itself.

On Monday alone, samples of 162 people were taken fortesting.Each person was picked from their home in an ambulanceand dropped back.

After each pick and drop, the ambulance would bedisinfected," Vijayan said.

He said that on Monday there were six positive casesin Kottayam,who were all under quarantine and all of themwere admitted to hospital by 8:30 in the night.

"There was no delay in admitting any patient.Thespread of such news was unfortunate," Vijayan said.

One of the positive patients was yesterday contactedby a local channel and asked about the "delay in being takento the hospital".

However, the patient replied that there was no delayand it would take at least 20 minutes for the ambulance toreach in any normal circumstance.

While the channel was talking to the patient, theambulance reached.

Meanwhile, Kerala police Tuesday registered 4,576cases for violating lockdown protocol and travelling andarrested 4,440 people.Besides, 2,905 vehicles were alsoseized.

Kannur has 50 patients, highest in the statefollowed by Kottayam with 18 positive cases.

Idukki and Kasaragod districts currently has 13positive cases each.

Three deaths were reported from the state till nowand four districts--Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Thrissurand Wayanad currently do not have any COVID-19 cases. RRTBNWELCOME RRTBNWELCOME