No let-up in fresh COVID-19 cases in Kozhikode

There is no let-up in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases in Kozhikode as 1,358 more people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Sunday even as the Health Department is learnt to have alerted local bodies to be cautious about the Delta variant of the virus.

The alert was sounded against the backdrop of the reporting of this variant among infected persons in the district whose samples were examined between May and June. Testing is being intensified in places where these cases have been reported. It has been reported that the staff of shops in places where the Delta variant has been reported will be mandatorily tested. Those who do not have quarantine facility at home could be shifted to COVID care centres or domiciliary care centres.

Health professionals have been asked to be vigilant against unusual rise in the number of cases from a particular place. If more number of people are hospitalised from a particular ward, or if there is a drastic surge in the number of deaths from there, more people should be tested.

Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate was 11.99% when 11,492 samples were tested. The District Medical Officer said 1,334 people got infected through local transmission and the source of 23 others was not known. Kozhikode Corporation accounted for 224 cases of locally acquired infections, Puthuppady 57, Koyilandy 42, Villiappally 34, Chelannur, Vadakara and Thamarassery 32 each, and Purameri 31. With 897 people recovering from the infection, the active caseload from the district is now 13,206.