Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Tuesday recorded 12 more COVID-19 cases, all returnees from overseas and other states, taking the total active patients to 142 as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the rise was expected but asserted community transmission has not happened so far. For the third consecutive day, none was discharged while the total cases rose to 642 and 72,000 people were under observation with 455 of them in various hospitals. As many as119 were admitted on Tuesday, he said.
Giving the break-up, Vijayan said while Kannur accounted for five new cases, Malappuram three and Pathnamthitta, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Palakkad districts one case each. All those who tested positive had come from outside the state -- four from abroad and eight from other states, including six from Maharashtra, he told reporters here. With the flow of people from various countries and other states, as expected, positive cases have begun to rise in Kerala, the Chief Minister said. "The next stage is transmission of the infection through contact and all of us need to be cautious about it," Vijayan said adding there has been no community transmission of the contagion in the state so far.
Since May 7, when the first repatriation flight from the Gulf landed, several of the Keralites who returned home after being stranded in foreign countries and in other states such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, which have high number of COVID-19 cases, have tested positive. "At least 74,426 people reached the state from other states and abroad. Fifty-three persons who came by flights have tested positive. Six people who reached by ships and 46 who came by road have been infected. A total of 26 flights and three ships reached the state so far," Vijayan said. He also informed that a special train will start from New Delhi on Wednesday (May 20) with over 1,300 stranded Keralites.
"A daily non-AC chair car train will run from Bengaluru to Kerala," Vijayan said. At least 2,036 people were bookedfor not wearing masks and 14 cases were registered for violating the lockdown protocol. On Monday, as many as 28 returnees tested positive for the pathogen. As per the latest medical bulletin, Malappuram has 26 positive cases, the highest in the state, followed by Wayanad (17), Kasaragod (16) and Kannur (14).
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