Kasargod coronavirus tally now nil but concerns of fresh spike haunts Kerala

While Kasargod district's COVID-19 tally came down to zero with the last patient getting cured on Sunday, Kerala seems to be witnessing a fresh spike in COVID-19 cases as three NRIs and two who came from Chennai were among the seven who tested positive in the state on Sunday.

While the number of evacuated NRIs testing COVID-19 positive so far increased to 5, around 15 with symptoms were admitted to COVID-19 care centres.

Kasargod district medical officer A V Ramdas told DH even as all the 178 COVID-19 patients in the district got recovered, the district would remain to be under tight vigil owing to evacuation of NRIs as well as return of Keralites from other states.

Kasargod's achievement of zero mortality received much appreciation as the district was having a weak health infrastructure when the district witnessed a spike in COVID-19 cases. It was only after the spike in coronavirus cases that the administrative block of the upcoming medical college hospital was made operational as a COVID-19 care facility and doctors from other medical colleges pressed into service. The relatively younger age of patients also helped the district achieve 100 percent recovery rate, said a doctor in the district.

All the three NRIs tested COVID-19 positive on Sunday came by the maiden evacuation flight from Abu Dhabi to Kochi on Thursday. Another passenger in the same flight and a passenger in Dubai - Kozhikode flight on Thursday tested positive on Saturday. All other passengers in these flights are kept under home quarantine and institutional quarantine.

Apart from the one patient at Kasargod, three more patients in Kerala also recovered on Sunday. The number of active cases in Kerala as on Sunday was 20.