Seven more Air India staff test COVID-19 positive in Kerala; Kannur under grip of local spread

Seven more staff of Air India are among the 58 who tested COVID-19 positive in Kerala on Saturday, while Kannur district in North Kerala is witnessing a spike in coronavirus infection through local contacts.

A person hailing from Alappuzha, who died at a COVID-19 observation centre on Friday, was later tested positive, while ten persons in the state under treatment recovered.

Two Air India cabin crew tested COVID-19 positive on Friday. Apart from that, seven more AI staff tested positive on Saturday. All were learnt to be cabin crew members of flights under Vande Bharat mission.

Of the present COVID-19 infections in the state, only around 10 per cent got infection through local contact. However, in Kannur district alone it is around 20 percent. Out of the 101 COVID-19 active cases in the district as on Saturday, 19 got infected through local contact.

According to sources, 13 members of a joint family got infected while many got infected through a fish vendor. Rampant violation of lockdown norms were reported in the district. In view of the situation, lockdown norms were being strictly enforced. Of the 100 odd hotspots in the state, around 25 are in Kannur district.

Out of the 1,208 COVID-19 positive cases reported in Kerala so far, 624 are active as on Saturday.