Total 16 patients under treatment

Thiruvananthapuram, May 08: Just one new case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Kerala today, in a person in Ernakulam district who had come to the State from Chennai. Meanwhile, ten patients under treatment have tested negative. All of them are from Kannur district. Till now, the total number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus infection in the State is 503 and 16 patients are still under treatment in different hospitals.

20,157 persons are under surveillance in the State with 19,810 quarantined at their homes and 347 isolated at hospitals. 127 persons were admitted to hospitals today. Till today, 35,886 samples have been sent for testing and 35,355 samples have been confirmed with no infection. As part of sentinel surveillance of people in the high-risk group, 3,380 samples were collected separately and tested. Of these, 2,939 samples have tested negative.

No new place in the State was declared as hotspot today and currently, there are 33 hotspots in Kerala now. Briefing the media, the Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “It’s been 100 days since the first case of Covid-19 in the country was reported in Kerala on January 30, in a student who returned from Wuhan in China. We could contain the spread at that stage. The second phase started in March first week.

Now after two months, we have managed to flatten the curve. Our State has been able to restrain the spread and our recovery rate is comparable to the highest in the world. We are doing everything to avoid a third phase but we are prepared for any situation. With the return of the Pravasi Malayalees from abroad and other states, we should be more careful in the coming days. We expect responsible behaviour from the general public in this regard.” Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; and Chief Secretary, Shri Tom Jose IAS were also present for the media briefing. End