State minister Kadakampally Surendran said the whole panchayat of Pothencode as well as people in its 2km radius will have to be quarantined after Kerala government on Tuesday reported the state’s second COVID-19 death.
Abdul Azeez, 68 who had been in treatment since March 23, succumbed to the disease at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.
He had first tested negative for the novel coronavirus but tested positive the second time, Mathrubhumi reported.
The condition of the man was “extremely critical”, a press release from the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and Hospital said.
“He had prolonged high blood pressure and thyroid problems, and had been on life support for the past 5 days,” state health minister K.K. Shailaja said. He was also on dialysis.
Authorities say that he had no history of foreign travel of coming in contact with infected persons and so it was unclear how he had gotten the virus.
Manorama reports that health officials are concerned that they have not been able to gather enough details to complete a chart of his movements before he showed symptoms of the virus.
Surendran said that people who had been in contact with him had already been quarantined. If there were others who had met him, they have been asked to call the 1077 helpline.
The deceased will be buried at a mosque near his home at Pothencode on Tuesday after following all international protocol.
Kerala had reported it first COVID-19 death on Saturday, March 28 from Chullickal in Kochi.
On Monday, the state reported 32 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of patients under treatment to 213. The worst affected Kasaragod district reported 17 fresh cases.
At least 1,57,253 people in the state are under observation out of which 623 people are in isolation wards of various hospitals across the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters at the daily press conference on Monday.