Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 27 (): Kerala continued towitness a spike in COVID-19 cases with 13 people, including aU.S returned teenaged girl testing positive on Monday, takingthe total number of cases in the state so far to 481.
The new cases were from Kottayam 6, Idukki 4, Palakkad,Malappuram and Kannur one each,Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan told reporters here.
With cases from Kottayam and Idukki rising in the pasttwo days,the government hasincluded the two districts in theRed zone.
With this there are totally six districts in the zone.
Two panchayats from Idukki and four from Kottayam havebeen included in the list ofhotspots.
A 17-year-old girl who had returned from the U.S onMarch22, a 14-year-old girl who came to the state with herparents, a 38-year-old man from Tirupur and a 60-year-old manare the four positive cases from the high range Idukkidistrict.
In Kottayam, a truck driver and a relative of a healthworker from Thiruvananthapuram were among the affected. Five of those who tested positive are from Tamil Nadu, oneperson had come from abroad and the others had been infectedthrough contact, the Chief Minister said.
It was not yet clear from where one person had beeninfected, Vijayan said.
He said the number of those who tested negative for thevirus were also 13 in the state.
There are 123 active cases, while 355 have been cured.
Over 20,000 peopleare under observation, including over489 in various hospitals.
So far 23,271 samples have been sent for testing and22,537 have returned negative.
Vijayan said there are at least four lakh guest workersin the state and they can be sent to their respective statesin phases. The government on Monday informed the Centre that theState would adopt a cautious approach on lifting the lockdownafter May 3 and favours having a partial lockdown till May 15.
Meanwhile, 3864 cases were registered for lockdownrestrictions in Kerala, 3868 people arrested and 2410 vehiclesseized, police said. UD APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH