Kerala on Friday recorded its eighth Covid death when a senior citizen with the coronavirus passed away at the Kottayam Medical College hospital earlier in the day. The condition of another senior citizen who travelled back from Mumbai is said to be serious.
State Health Minister K.K.Shailaja told the media that Kerala does not come under a community spread area as with the arrival of Keralaites in large numbers from within the country and abroad the state which had flattened the curve showed spike in covid cases.
"The problem is what we see now is on expected lines as after May 7, when lockdown norms were eased and people from within the country and abroad started coming, we expected this would happen, as most are coming from epicentres of positive cases.
"There is no need for any concern as things are under control as there is no cluster cases because we track, trace and isolate very effectively. At the same time, we cannot be complacent as all rules of lockdown have to be abided by," said Shailaja.
"It must be recalled that in the first phase the rate of contact spread was 30 per cent and now with more and more cases being reported, the contact spread has come down to 15 per cent and this is something very positive. This shows that there is no community spread," added Shailaja.
She said the 68-year-old person who passed away on Friday morning had returned from the UAE on May 11 and was on quarantine.
"This person along with his wife had gone to visit their son in the UAE. He was obese and a diabetic patient. On May 18 his condition worsened and was moved to the general hospital at Pathanamthitta.
On May 26, his condition became very serious and he was moved to the Kottayam Medical College hospital and was put on ventilator. Sadly he passed away today morning," said Shailaja.
Meanwhile a 80-year-old woman who came with her family on Thursday by train from Mumbai is in critical condition.
Though hailing from Thrissur, since she had severe breathing problems, she was straight away moved to the Kochi Medical College hospital and was put on ventilator.
She has tested Covid positive, while her family members' test results are awaited.
( With inputs from IANS )