12 fresh COVID-19 cases in Kerala, total rises to 642

Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 () Kerala on Tuesday recorded 12 more COVID-19 cases, all returnees from overseas and other states, taking the total active patients to 142 as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the rise was expected but asserted community transmission has not happened so far. For the third consecutive day, none was discharged while the total cases rose to 642 and 72,000 people were under observation with 495 of them in various hospitals. As many as 119 were admitted on Tuesday, he said. Giving the break-up, Vijayan said while Kannur accounted for five new cases, Malappuram three and Pathnamthitta, Alappuzha, Thrissur and Palakkad districts one case each. All those who tested positive had come from outside the state -- four from abroad and eight from other states, including six from Maharashtra, he told reporters here. With the flow of people from various countries and other states, as expected,positive cases have begun to rise inKerala, the Chief Minister said. "The next stage is transmission of the infection through contact and all of us need to be cautious about it,"he said adding there has been no community transmission of the contagion in the state so far.

Since May 7, when the first repatriation flight from the Gulf landed, several of the Keralites who returned home after being stranded in foreign countries and in other states such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, which have high number of COVID-19 cases, have tested positive.

On Monday, as many as 28 returnees tested positive for the pathogen. UD VS VS