Kerala’s coronavirus disease (Covid-19) death toll went up to seven after a 62-year-old woman died at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital on Monday night, health officials said.
They said the woman, a resident of Kannur, was a paralytic and was suffering from many other ailments. Her husband, who works in a market in Thalassery, has also tested positive. The source of infection is not yet traced.
Many such cases have been detected in north Kerala in the last few days.
A woman, who was injured after a jackfruit hit her on her head, tested positive in Kannur two days ago. Nobody had tested positive in her neighbourhood or house before her. Similarly, a man with a spinal injury later tested positive.
Kerala had a good track record with effective tracking and surveillance measures but after expatriates and people stranded in other states started flocking to the state in large the number of Covid-19 cases shot up.
At least one lakh people have returned to the state in the last two weeks. Officials say at least 80% of the recent cases are imported.
There are around 1.80 million Kerala residents working in Middle-Eastern countries alone. At least 50 flights are expected from the Gulf this week as part of the Vande Bharat evacuation plan.
Kerala was first in the country to report a Covid-19 case in January after a medical student returned from China’s Wuhan. But it managed well in containing the virus in the first two stages with its effective intervention and surveillance.
Another worry for the state is that at least nine health workers have been infected in the last three days.
Out of the 896 Covid-19 cases reported in the state, 359 are active and around one lakh people are under observation.
