5 more Zika virus cases in Kerala, total tally at 35: Kerala Health Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Saturday (July 17) five more people, including a minor, tested positive for Zika virus in Kerala, taking the total reported cases of the infection to 35, of which 11 are active.

One of the positive cases was reported from Ernakulam, the minister said and added that the person concerned was a health worker in Thiruvananthapuram.

Till now all the cases of Zika have been reported from the state capital.

The virus was confirmed in tests conducted at the Virology Lab of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Alappuzha and the Microbiology Lab at Coimbatore, the minister said in a release.

On Friday, a meeting was held by state Revenue Minister K Rajan and George on working together, alongwith the Local Self Government department, for preventing the spread of communicable diseases and to strengthen the sanitation committees at the ward level.

Meanwhile, Kerala on Saturday recorded 16,148 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the infection caseload to 31,46,981, while the toll rose to 15,269 with 114 more deaths.

As many as 13,197 people were cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 30,06,439, leaving 1,24,779 active cases, a state government release said.

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