34 new COVID-19 cases in Kasargod; Kerala tally at 176

Kasargod district in Kerala bordering Karnataka witnessed a steep rise of 34 more COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total infected in the district to 81.

Meanwhile, the Kerala government has strongly objected to Karnataka blocking roads to Kerala with heaps of soil and preventing even patients from proceeding towards hospitals in Mangaluru. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Karnataka government had agreed to remove the blockades.

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The total number of coronavirus cases in Kerala has gone up by 39, taking the total to 176, of which 12 have already recovered. All the 14 districts in Kerala have now seen cases of infection.

With Kasargod remaining under the threat of a community spread, the government has decided to convert the central university in the district to a corona-care facility and to equip the medical college hospital with corona treatment facilities. Permission would be sought from ICMR for conducting tests at the central university.

Vijayan said that the situation in Kasargod was being considered serious as many of the infected had travelled widely. The key reason for this spot was the large number of people from the locality working in Gulf countries. Of the 47 Kasargod natives who were tested positive till Thursday, over 40 had returned from Gulf. Among the 39 cases tested positive in the state on Friday, 25 are from Gulf countries.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

Signs of community spread have not appeared so far. But test results of over 100 persons in Kasargod were still pending. All persons who recently returned from abroad and reached Kerala through other states were urged to remain in observation and report in case of any symptoms.

Vijayan said that almost all roads connecting Kerala and Karnataka in Kasargod as well as other districts were blocked by Karnataka authorities by creating soil heaps. Scores of people in Kasargod depend on hospitals in Karnataka, especially Mangaluru, for daily medical needs like dialysis. But even such patients were not allowed to go to Karnataka. He accused that blocking the roads would even affect the movement of even emergency vehicles.

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He said Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose spoke to his Karnataka counterpart and the latter assured of removing the blockade. The situation would be brought to the attention of the Centre well, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government is exploring the option of getting drugs from Cuba for coronavirus treatment. Permission would be sought from the drug controller for this, said the Chief Minister.